Introduction and comparison of four typical general contracting management modes: EPC, DB, EPCM and PMC?

The following are four typical general contracting management modes brought by Zhong Da Consulting for your reference. ：

In international and domestic comprehensive large-scale construction projects, in order to reduce risks, simplify their own management institutions, strengthen the professionalism of project management, fully integrate favorable resources, improve project implementation efficiency and balance project investment, owners will give priority to the general contracting management mode, thus improving the cost performance of the final products and maximizing economic benefits. In the actual general contracting project, "general contracting" is not a simple concept, but takes various forms according to the management needs of the owner, the composition characteristics of the project and the implementation characteristics of the project. This paper mainly introduces and compares four typical general contracting management modes: EPC, DB, EPCM and PMC, and compares them with other general contracting modes (such as TKM, F+EPC, BT and BOT) under special conditions. I. Causes and Basic Concepts of General Contracting The traditional project contracting method is that the owner organizes an expert jury to bid after completing the project establishment and fund implementation; Set up project management headquarters, sign design contracts with design units, project supervision contracts with supervision companies and construction contracts with engineering contractors. The contractor will carry out the construction according to the requirements of design drawings under the quality supervision of the project supervisor, and the project headquarters will directly participate in the implementation and management of the project and coordinate the relationship between design, construction and supervision. Most domestic construction projects are of this model. This kind of organization mode puts forward very high management requirements for the owner's project headquarters and requires a sufficient number of technical professionals. At the same time, it takes a lot of energy to participate in coordinating and balancing the relationship between the two parties in the whole process. Moreover, the two parties to the contract restrict each other, lack of organic contact, weak consultation mechanism for technical issues, and sometimes even shirk their responsibilities, which hinders the smooth implementation of the project. Therefore, this organizational model is generally suitable for small-scale projects with sufficient owners and corresponding professional and technical capabilities, single professional structure and uncomplicated resource allocation relationship. Generally speaking, the contract pricing form is itemized pricing according to the accepted quantities, that is, unit price contract. Compared with the engineering contractor, this mode is the simplest in management and the least in risk. On the contrary, compared with the owner, the management requirements are the most complicated, the highest and the most risky. With the development of market economy, the role of owners has gradually changed to the role of project investors, paying more attention to the return of investment value and the commercial operation of projects; At the same time, construction enterprises become bigger and stronger, and their technical strength and qualification level are improved. Acquired the qualifications of engineering consultation, survey and design, construction, equipment supply, project operation, etc. through mergers and acquisitions, and possessed the ability of integrated management and project implementation. Furthermore, with the increasingly fierce market competition and the maturity of the construction market, there is a market demand for multi-functional and integrated supporting services for finished construction products. Therefore, project investors are more willing to transfer some functions and construction risks, streamline their own management institutions, hire companies with comprehensive strength to manage and implement the whole process of the project, and provide integrated services for finished construction products, thus giving birth to the general contracting management model based on the spirit of commercial contract and the concept of trust responsibility. According to the way of resource integration, this paper divides general contracting projects into implementation category and management category. Implementation-oriented general contracting means that the contractor integrates various implementation subjects to form an inseparable performance subject, leading the project implementation and taking full responsibility for the finished products of the project, such as EPC, DB, etc. Generally, it is priced according to the lump sum price at the time of signing the contract, which is beneficial for investors to effectively control the maximum investment ceiling GMP (guaranteed maximum price) of the project; EPC-Turnkey (or TKM) is the most complete form of implementing general contracting. General contracting of project management means that the contractor sets up a management team to provide the owner with a set of consulting and management services at all stages, and assumes management responsibilities, but will not establish a contractual relationship with the implementer, and the relationship between them is supervision and supervision; Participate in pre-project consultation and exercise management authority on behalf of the owner, which is the difference between general contracting and project supervision; Generally, it is "fixed management fee pricing+performance reward" according to the node requirements and performance requirements agreed by both parties to the contract. PMC (or IMPT) is the most ideal performance for managing the general contractor. Second, the basic definitions and comparison of EPC, DB, EPCM and PMC. According to the different needs and professional management ability of the owners, the general contracting management mode can be subdivided into more than ten kinds. This paper mainly introduces the following four basic and typical modes, as well as other modes that can be transformed through function increase or decrease according to the specific needs and participation ability of the owners, such as TKM, F+EPC, BT, BOT, etc. 1.EPC mode is the design (engineering), procurement (procurement) and construction (construction) mode, which is also called design, procurement and construction general contracting in the industry. The organizational form is shown in Figure 2. The contract conditions of EPC)/ turnkey project compiled by FIDIC are the best interpretation and application of this model. The project investor signs an EPC contract with the EPC contractor, who is responsible for the comprehensive and strict management from project design, procurement to construction. On the premise of the total price, investors basically do not participate in the project management process, the owners only focus on the completion acceptance and finished product delivery, and EPC contractors bear most of the risks of project construction. In FIDIC contract, there is an upgraded EPC, namely turnkey project, which is also called EPC-Turnkey or TKM mode in the industry. Compared with the general EPC model, this model requires the contractor to undertake a wider range of responsibilities, a stricter term, a more fixed contract price, more risks and a relatively higher contract price. In addition, if the owner is short of funds and wants the contractor to finance the project when the qualification and ability permit, the mode of "financing +EPC turnkey" (FEPC) will appear. If the contractor decides to invest by himself and become a project investor, it will be transformed into BT mode (construction and handover); ; Or further, if the owner entrusts the operation right of the project to the contractor within a limited time, it will be upgraded to BOT mode (construction, operation and transfer). BOT mode itself, according to different situations, will derive a variety of mode changes, which will not be detailed in this article. 2.DB mode is a design and construction mode, and its organizational form is shown in Figure 3. Production Equipment and Design-Construction Contract Conditions (Yellow Book) compiled by FIDIC is a typical application of this model. According to the general definition, the owner contracts the design and construction tasks to the same general contractor, and the contractor is responsible for organizing the design and construction of the project. The owner pays attention to whether the product meets the requirements, but does not participate in the coordination of the relationship between design and construction. The difference between the owner and EPC contract lies in the lack of a procurement link. The author thinks that DB mode and EPC mode have the same characteristics as the general contracting mode in the purpose and mode, namely, the integration of design and construction, the fixed total price and the delivery of finished products; However, apart from the difference in purchasing process, there are still some differences in the concept and application of the "design" of the two models. The design in (1)DB mode is mainly aimed at the structural design, appearance design and functional design of a single major; The engineering of EPC includes not only the design content in DB, but also the overall planning of the whole project, management planning at all stages, cross-disciplinary and cross-functional linkage design, combination design and production process design, which requires that all professional products can be matched and closely combined to give full play to the best effect. (2) In addition, in the design comparison stage, before signing the DB contract, the owner has made clear the design requirements and overall planning, and the DB contractor generally only needs to refine and optimize the scheme to meet the construction requirements; For EPC projects, before signing the EPC contract, the owner only puts forward conceptual and functional requirements for the project, and the contractor should be able to provide choices and give the best design scheme from the owner's point of view. (3) The scope of the two projects is different. When a project cannot be contracted to the same construction contractor in EPC mode at the same time, it can be considered to split the project into several DB projects for implementation. Generally, medium-sized projects with single function and few specialties are mainly based on DB mode. For example, in a expressway project in East Africa, the owner chose the DB model. This project is mainly based on highway specialty, with little combination with other specialties. However, some large-scale projects involving multiple disciplines mostly adopt EPC mode, such as port projects (combined dredging engineering, port road engineering, port railway engineering, soft foundation treatment of yard, port machinery and equipment, port loading and unloading technology, port transportation technology, etc.). ), Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao cross-sea bridge project (including artificial island, submarine tunnel project, bridge project, waterway maintenance, etc. ) and airport engineering (including runways, terminal buildings and airport facilities) 3. EPCM mode refers to design, procurement and construction management. In this mode, the owner signs an "EPCM management contract" with one party (hereinafter referred to as "EPCM contractor") and an "EPC contract" or other forms of project contracting contracts with another party or contractors. EPCM here is equivalent to the dual roles of the owner's representative and engineering consultant, which cooperates with the owner to strictly select and manage the contractor, but it is different from the traditional engineering consultant. EPCM contractors are directly responsible for the implementation of the project, including the management responsibilities in terms of cost, quality, safety and progress, and bear the management risks of the whole project. EPCM has no contract or joint relationship with other engineering contractors. Different from EPC, DB, EPCM and PMC are management general contracts, which mainly provide a management service with a fixed total management fee. The author thinks that this mode is a compromise choice between traditional contracting mode and EPC mode, and it is suitable for large-scale, comprehensive and complex engineering construction projects. In this contractual relationship mode, the owner can make the project process control function play through the support of EPCM contractor, and at the same time avoid the management risk of general problems; For example, for an EPC project, the owner will basically not interfere with the implementation process of the project, and most of the risks will be borne by the EPC party. If the EPC contractor covers up the risk, the loss will exceed the promised scope of the EPC contractor, which will certainly harm the interests of the owner. Therefore. EPCM contractor plays the role of actively finding and handling problems for the owner, and is also the guarantor of sharing management risks for the owner. 4.PMC mode project management contract, sometimes called IMPT (Integrated Project Management Team Integrated Project Management), generally refers to that the owner hires a professional project management company to provide integrated project management services on behalf of the owner in the whole process or several processes of project organization and implementation; This definition covers all the contents of management general contracting mode. In practice, the PMC mode that the author contacts is to manage the high-end products of general contracting. The management form and role-playing of the contractor are similar to EPCM, but the contract status is higher, and the contractor is more closely integrated with the owner and undertakes more management responsibilities. PMC mode puts forward more professional requirements for contractors in engineering consulting and engineering management, and is also the focus of contractors' investigation in terms of experience and goodwill.

The integration characteristics of PMC mode are mainly manifested in the following aspects:

(1) Integration with the owner in organizational structure, procedure system, management objectives and values. The PMC contractor team and the representatives sent by the owner form a complete management organization to manage the project, and work with the owner to formulate management procedures and management objectives. It is different from the traditional project headquarters. PMC and the owner are based on commercial contracts, and PMC contractors perform entrusted responsibilities, which makes the deployment more flexible. The owner can get a professional and experienced project management team from an experienced contractor in a short time. In the traditional project headquarters, there is a labor contract relationship between its managers and the owner, and the owner needs to select enough personnel by himself. At the same time, there is no guarantee that all personnel will have professional ability and rich experience. The responsibilities and risks of project management are entirely borne by the owner, and a large number of management personnel should be properly placed after the project is completed.

(2) Coordinated management among different disciplines and management integration among different entity contractors. In PMC management mode, the management objects can be multiple EPC contractors, or multiple contractors, suppliers and buyers of different disciplines. As the representative of the owner, the experienced management team can coordinate and deal with the problems of various professions at the same time, so that the professions are more closely linked and the combination is more reasonable; On the other hand, from the overall consideration of large-scale projects, all contractors are managed as a whole, and the allocation of surplus resources among contractors is optimized as needed, which effectively saves the cost of scheduling.

(3) Integration of full-cycle service of project construction According to the owner's demand and contract agreement, PMC contractor will take the lead or participate in the preparation of project feasibility study report, environmental assessment and rating project initiation documents from the moment when the owner determines the overall goal of the project, guide the owner to complete the relevant procedures of project approval, select design technology for the owner, prepare bidding documents, assist the owner in bidding, bidding and bid evaluation, and provide professional advice. Undertake the overall design and preliminary design of the project, and supervise and manage EPCM during the project construction. If the cooperation continues, PCM contractors can update their teams and introduce talents according to management needs, and continue to participate in the operation and management of the project. Thirdly, in the project life cycle, the stages, tasks and functions of different general contracting modes are compared with the past. At different stages of the project life cycle, owners usually organize or hire corresponding professional companies to accomplish different goals and tasks. The implementation process of each stage is gradual and the relationship is clear. It is often necessary to sign multiple contracts, which undoubtedly increases the management cost and the affairs of coordinating relations. With the development of integrated service concept, project investors pay more attention to the acceptance of finished products; On the premise that contractors have multiple qualifications, investors are more willing to assign tasks in different stages to as few contractors as possible, so as to reduce management objects and management costs. See table 1 for a comparison of the scope of tasks undertaken under different types of general contracting modes from the perspective of project life cycle. Sum of (transportation quantity × transportation distance × transportation price)+comprehensive (quantity of loading and unloading machinery × price of loading and unloading machinery)+other expenses. 5. Organization and preparation of construction machinery for water conservancy and hydropower projects The organization and preparation of construction machinery for water conservancy and hydropower projects include the following contents: First, establish a reasonable operation team according to the types of construction machinery and construction sites, and clarify the contents and personnel composition of operations; Second, according to the actual level of construction machinery operators, establish a reasonable operation group, including mechanical dispatcher, mechanical technician, mechanical administrator, mechanical material engineer, etc. Third, according to the operation time, operation type and quantity of construction machinery, it is equipped with corresponding maintenance forces; Fourthly, according to the construction schedule and actual situation of water conservancy and hydropower projects, a reasonable shift system should be formulated. Second, research on organization and scheduling of construction machinery for water conservancy and hydropower projects. The organization and scheduling of construction machinery for water conservancy and hydropower projects mainly includes the following contents:

(1) Reasonable organization means unified and reasonable arrangement in combination with the time and space occupied by construction machinery. For example, when machinery is in flow operation, reasonable arrangements can be made according to the types and construction procedures of engineering construction machinery, so that the mechanical operation time can be synchronized, and the construction machinery can be operated in one direction, thus improving the efficiency of mechanical operation.

(2) To scientifically handle the relationship between the use and management of machinery, we should first adopt the system of pre-construction layout, inspection during construction and post-construction evaluation to improve the progress and level of machinery construction; Secondly, when preparing the mechanical construction plan, the personnel of the operation team should be invited to participate in order to effectively coordinate the maintenance of construction machinery and the implementation of the plan; Thirdly, the person in charge of water conservancy and hydropower project construction should have the ability and experience to adjust the contradiction between the use of construction machinery and the construction progress to meet the requirements of mechanical operators and technicians.

(3) In the process of mechanical construction, it is necessary to collect information extensively, establish a rapid response information feedback system, make preparations for fire prevention, flood control and quality accident prevention, and realize the correct scheduling of construction machinery.

(4) Take measures to widely understand the progress of construction machinery in engineering construction, and make reasonable adjustments according to the reasons that affect the construction progress, and organize the construction in a planned way. Three. Coordination of construction plan of water conservancy and hydropower engineering machinery Generally speaking, the construction plan of water conservancy and hydropower engineering machinery includes: material supply plan, machinery construction progress plan, inter-process operation plan and machinery maintenance plan. The site management of construction machinery must do the following:

(1) leave room for the mechanical construction plan of water conservancy and hydropower projects, because machinery will encounter many unpredictable factors in the construction process, such as natural disasters, bad weather, accidents, etc., which need to be adjusted anytime and anywhere. Therefore, leaving some room for the construction plan of machinery is helpful to improve the efficiency of construction machinery.

(2) When preparing the mechanical construction plan, the maintenance time and maintenance time of construction machinery should be fully considered to ensure the normal operation of construction machinery.

(3) Take measures to fully coordinate the supply and operation plan of construction machinery, unify the supply plan of raw materials and spare parts into mechanical operation, and ensure sufficient materials for mechanical construction. Four. Conclusion With the development of the times and the progress of science and technology, China's water conservancy and hydropower industry has gradually entered a golden period of development. In the construction of water conservancy and hydropower projects, the field management of construction machinery is the main content of current construction management of water conservancy and hydropower projects. It is an important and arduous task for our builders to strengthen the research on site management of construction machinery and put forward scientific and reasonable management methods.

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