In June, DBIA released the Qualifications-Based Selection Blueprint for Federal Design-Build Projects, giving federal agencies practical guidance for applying qualifications-based selection (QBS) principles within the existing federal procurement environment.
At the time, DBIA also previewed a companion online tutorial designed to help practitioners take the next step toward connecting that guidance to the decisions they face on actual projects.
That tutorial is now available.
The free Collaborative Procurement in Federal Acquisition Online Tutorial builds on the QBS Blueprint with plain-language explanations, examples and additional context for contracting officers, program managers and other federal practitioners working through Progressive Design-Build (PDB) implementation.
Together, the two resources address different parts of the same challenge. The Blueprint lays out DBIA’s recommended approach to qualifications-focused federal design-build procurement. The tutorial helps practitioners work through how that guidance can apply within a specific project or agency context.
From Procurement Guidance to Project Decisions
The QBS Blueprint was developed to give federal Owners a clearer path for applying qualifications-focused procurement techniques while working within current federal requirements.
It outlines relevant Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) authorities and procurement approaches, while recognizing current federal regulations limit the ability to implement a purely QBS process for construction contracts.
Explore the QBS Resources
Federal practitioners can use the Blueprint and tutorial together: one as the detailed framework for qualifications-focused procurement and the other as a practical tool for exploring how that framework applies in an agency and project context.
The tutorial does not replace that detailed guidance. Instead, it makes the concepts easier to explore and apply.
Federal acquisition includes layers of regulation, policy, statutory authority and agency-specific guidance. Federal practitioners considering PDB have to sort through how multiple requirements and authorities work together and what they mean for the procurement decisions in front of them.
The tutorial explains FAR nuances and connects related authorities in the context of qualifications-focused design-build procurement. It also uses examples to give practitioners another way to work through concepts presented in the Blueprint.
“The federal construction community has no shortage of policy documents, best practice guides and procurement frameworks,” FBI Chief Contracting Officer David Triplett, DBIA, told the Design-Build Delivers Podcast in May. “What we consistently lack is the bridge between knowing what the guidance says and knowing how to apply it to a specific project in a specific agency context. And the gap between the policy on paper and execution is where most procurement reform stalls.”
The new tutorial is designed specifically for that gap.
Supporting Federal PDB Implementation
The tutorial arrives as federal agencies continue to explore PDB and other collaborative procurement approaches.
The Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act explicitly authorized the Department of Defense to use PDB for military construction projects, providing additional clarity for federal Owners considering qualifications-based, collaborative delivery.
But authorization is only part of implementation.
Agencies still have to determine the appropriate procurement strategy, understand how relevant authorities work together and structure an acquisition that supports the collaborative behaviors necessary for Design-Build Done Right®.
The QBS Blueprint provides the detailed procurement framework. The tutorial offers another way to understand that framework and connect it to project-specific circumstances.
