Which of the following is NOT a synergistic element?

• A. Source Selection
• B. Contract Incentives
• C. Quality Assurance
• D. Requirements

Answer: (C)

In design-build, synergistic elements are practices that align owner, designer, and builder so they work as a single team toward shared outcomes, enabling early collaboration, integrated decision-making, and shared risk/reward. Source selection supports this by ensuring the team has the right background and collaborative mindset from the start. Contract incentives push all parties to meet or exceed performance, cost, and schedule targets rather than operating in a siloed, adversarial way. Requirements lay out the project goals and performance criteria clearly, giving the team a unified direction for design and construction.

Quality Assurance, while essential for delivering a dependable product, is primarily a management discipline focused on meeting standards and verifying outputs. It does not inherently drive the cross-party collaboration or aligned incentives that define synergistic elements. Therefore, it is not a synergistic element.