1. Preliminary Scope: The owner prepares a preliminary scope of service, describing the proposed project in detail.

2. Announcement: The agency announces it requires A/E services for the project and issues a request for qualifications (RFQ).

3. Screening and Evaluation: The agency reviews and evaluates all the A/E submissions and develops a "short list" of three to five firms.

4. Interviews: The agency staff interviews the A/E teams at the firm's or the agency's offices.

5. Ranking and Selection: The agency rates all the firms and selects the top ranked firm in order of qualifications, philosophies, project management, and client references.

6. Negotiation: The top-rated firm is invited into negotiations with the agency to develop both a detailed scope of work and a formal contract and fee, based on this approved scope of work. If the agency cannot negotiate a reasonable fee with the first firm, it will terminate negotiations with that firm and start with the second or then third firm if required, until a successful agreement is reached. Again, none of the firms are put into a situation to compete fees with each other. QBS is a comprehensive process, yet it need not be burdensome. In fact, the great virtue of the system is that it can be adapted to any project, large or small.

You can tailor each step in the process to meet the size of your project and your timetable. For instance, on a small project, the preliminary scope of service might be brief, perhaps only a few paragraphs. And rather than sending out formal invitations to submit statements of qualification, you might simply phone three or four recommended firms, fax them the preliminary scope and ask them to submit statements of qualification. On the projects of greater urgency, you may want to request comprehensive technical proposals from two or three trusted firms, then proceed directly to interviews, ranking, selection and negotiation.