The Design Build Deliverable

I started this post with a rant on the design-bid-build delivery method, which is the status quo of the building industry.  However, I wanted this post to be a) short enough to real all the way through; and b) more about good stuff.  With that, I’ll just say that the design-bid-build method has its problems, and one of my favorite books on the subject is The Real Estate Revolution: Nine Transforming Keys to Lowering Costs, Cutting Waste, and Driving Change in a Broken Industry by Rex Miller (blog).  In it, he asserts that the design–bid-build process creates projects that end up over budget (78% of all d-b-b projects) and beyond schedule (70%).  Of the late projects, 75% of them exceeded the original contract price by 50%!!!

BIM rendering of a Design Build Interior Finish Out, Dallas

There are other project delivery methods such as integrated project delivery (IPD);  however some of those take a lot of time and overhead which may not be suitable for a smaller project, say under $10M.  The Design-Build process enables a client to hold one firm accountable for the schedule, budget, and design of a project.  I’ll admit, there is a lot of trust involved here. My solution is pretty simple – if you don’t know it, ask it!  A truly integrated design build team will able to provide you with exactly what you need.  When having a conversation with the designer, ask how much it costs: right there in the meeting.  If he doesn’t know, she should get it to you in a day (OK, unless it is really complicated).  I get asked these questions quite a bit, and I’m just honest about it: “You may not want to hear this, but I bet this will cost about $10,000 to add.”  Frankness is important here – don’t let your design-builder beat around the bush.  When working with a design builder, transparency is key to what you want at the most efficient price.  As many construction firms work in the design-bid-build world, this can be a big paradigm shift: money is typically made up in forms such as scope gap and mis-coordination in drawings among different design disciplines and field conditions.

A design build team gets rid of much of this problem.  Our teams are unique in that they are architect run, versus many other organizations where a contractor will simply hire an architect as a subcontractor.  How does this affect the delivery experience?  A client deals with one person, from start to finish.  Obviously, other professionals come on as part of the team as required, but when there is a problem, there is one person to call.  Project delivery takes a long time, even with design build projects (even though there is a considerable cut in schedule).  The relationship that develops over that time, however, is a rewarding one.  In the end, the client and design builder have tremendous respect for one another and maintain a lasting relationship.

I like to believe this has everything to do with accountability.  In construction, there is an awful lot of finger pointing – someone else is always at fault.  Typically, these problems get so convoluted that an owner finally has to throw up his or her hands in disgust and pay a bill.  In the design-build scenario, the DB team is responsible.  There are still unknowns that should be accounted for in contingencies (standard risks such as subsurface conditions, environmental problems, weather delays, etc).  These risks are typically accounted for as a contingency in a design build contract (The AIA DB contract requires a 5% contingency built-in, for instance).  But all of those arguments about the “architect didn’t draw this,” “the electrician didn’t provide that,” and “no one is hooking that up because it isn’t in their scope” go away.

In the future, this blog will discuss more options in greater detail – IPD, lean construction, etc..  All of these delivery methods have to do with trust, which can be a hard hurdle to make; especially if you’ve been burned before in the construction industry.  But rest assured, there is a better way!