In evaluating the firms, the committee considers the engineer's qualifications, experience, technical competence, and other factors. During the interviews, the proposed project manager should explain his concept of how the proposed work will be accomplished. The experience of the project manager and team members is far more important than the experience of the firm as a whole. Subcontractors and their qualifications should be identified. The consultant firm should be registered to do business in the State of Nebraska and the responsible engineer should be a registered engineer in the State of Nebraska.
Some selection committees use a rating form to assist in selecting the best qualified firm.
The form allows each member of the committee to assign points to each desired characteristic such as qualifications of the project manager, supporting team, plan of work, availability to start work, etc. After the selection committee has agreed on an order of preference, the first choice firm is invited to a negotiating session where details of each task and the consultant's fees are agreed upon. Both the tasks and the fees are negotiable, but it is important that the tasks be defined as clearly as possible at this time. Vague task descriptions can lead to unnecessary future claims and conflicts. A contract is signed after the two parties have agreed on the scope of services and a fair and reasonable compensation.