Design Build Project Delivery Approach

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• How to Get the Most Out of the Design-Build
  Project Delivery Approach

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Table of Contents

• How to Get the Most Out of the Design-Build
  Project Delivery Approach
• Adopt A Team-Oriented Approach
• Be Picky With Your Team Members
• Understand Design-Build Best Practices
• Get A Clear Vision From The Owner
• Define The Scope Of Work For Each Member
• Common Challenges of the Design-Build Project
  Delivery Approach and How to Overcome Them
• Absence Of Effective Collaboration
• Incompetent Team
• Trust Issues Between The Owner And The Contractor
• Unclear Expectations Within The Team
• Legal issues
• Why New Homeowners are Opting for Architect-Led
  Design Build
• What Is An Architect-Led Designer Build?
• Why Architect-Led Design Build?

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How to Get the Most Out of the Design-Build
Project Delivery Approach

• The design-build approach has become the favorite
  for many homeowners in the last decade or so. In
  the beginning of 2019, ForConstructionPROS.com
  estimated that 44 of construction dollars would
  be spent on design-build projects between 2018
  and 2021. Unlike the traditional building
  approach where the control of the project is
  split between the designer and contractor, this
  strategy hands the whole responsibility on one
  entity either the designer or contractor.
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• If you are a contractor or designer in charge of
  a design-build project, you must realize that the
  ball is entirely in your court. Your boss is
  totally dependent on you to make his dreams a
  reality. How can you make sure you do not
  disappoint?
• Here are a few tips worth noting.

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Adopt A Team-Oriented Approach

• Making the shift from a bid-mentality to a
  collaborative environment can be a hard shell to
  crack for many contractors and architects. This
  is because many of them are used to bidding low
  and making as much profit from the project as
  possible. In doing so, they find it easy to
  point fingers when things go south during the
  project. If you really want to score high with a
  design-build construction approach, you have to
  be willing to adopt a team-oriented and
  integrated approach.

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Be Picky With Your Team Members

• Having a good design-build team is the secret to
  the success of a construction project. When you
  have the most qualified workers in your team, the
  sky is the limit for you. Obviously, good
  workers do not drop from the sky. It takes
  meticulous screening of every single candidate
  you bring onboard. Do not settle for low price
  but rather, genuine talent, skill, and
  experience.

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Understand Design-Build Best Practices

• Like any other huge project, there are a number
  of best practices in the world of construction.
  An example is performing specialty trade
  integration in the beginning stages of the
  project rather than after the design phase is
  over. It is easy to feel cocky about your
  knowledge of these practices without really
  walking the talk. If you want to be effective in
  what you do, ensure you are educated on all the
  design-build best practices.

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Get A Clear Vision From The Owner

• It is uncommon for project owners to clash with
  their contractors because of communication
  breakdowns regarding the vision of the project.
  It is, therefore, prudent that you clearly
  understand and articulate the project vision from
  the owner. That way, you can achieve their goals
  and give them what they pay for.

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Define The Scope Of Work For Each Member

• A successful building begins with a clear
  understanding of the expectations of each team
  member. This requires a thorough definition of
  the scope of work upfront. If this is lacking,
  the final product may not meet the projects
  goals. The project leader should ensure that
  everyone knows what he or she needs to do at
  every point of the project.
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• There is a difference between an average
  contractor and a cutting-edge one. The latter
  will do all they can to put a smile on their
  owners lips. If you are to join the list, watch
  out for the above-highlighted tips.

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Common Challenges of the Design-Build Project
Delivery Approach and How to Overcome Them

• From minimizing costs and claims to reducing the
  construction time, the design-build (DB) project
  delivery approach is the current big trend in the
  construction industry. If you want to let go of
  the stress of sharing your project between
  architects and contractors, design-build has got
  you covered. Unfortunately, contractors and
  architects are yet to reap the maximum benefits
  of design-build. This is partly because of
  certain challenges that they face in DB projects.
  Follow through as we unveil some of these
  challenges and their solutions.

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Absence Of Effective Collaboration

• Contract management is one of the biggest
  challenges in many design-build projects.
  Ideally, this delivery method heavily relies on
  the collaboration of every participant to ensure
  effective results. Unfortunately, contract
  management is sometimes unwilling to embrace
  collaboration for their personal reasons.
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• Solution Every team member should be trained to
  foster an integrated, collaborative environment.

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Incompetent Team

• One of the advantages of a design-build project
  approach is that the project owner can select the
  very best manager to oversee the project to its
  completion. However, building a strong cohesive
  team is easier said than done. Everyone from the
  top management down to the bottom teams should be
  very competent. When you hire the wrong people,
  you will soon experience trouble.
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• Solution The person in charge should put effort
  and time into selecting every single worker for
  the team.

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Trust Issues Between The Owner And The Contractor

• Although many owners love the design-build
  approach because it involves dealing with one
  person in charge of the project, some have issues
  trusting them. Often, these owners lack the
  comfort and security that the contractor or
  engineer can really handle the task. So even if
  they have the contractor working for them, the
  owner will want to micromanage the project too
  much. On the opposite side of the spectrum, some
  architects or contractors do not communicate
  everything to their bosses, making them feel left
  out. Both of these scenarios can cause mistrust
  between the project owner and the contractor.
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• Solution Communicate mutual expectations from
  either party before signing any contract.

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Unclear Expectations Within The Team

• It is one thing for contract management to
  articulate the vision of the project. It is
  another for team members to know exactly what is
  expected of them. The team should understand
  their contribution to the greater good of the
  project. They should be flexible, available, and
  knowledgeable and discover what they should do
  always.
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• Solution Clearly explain the scope of work of
  every team member.

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Legal issues

• The last challenge affecting the design-build
  project delivery approach is the myriad issues
  that are not solved or tested. Some of them
  include the following
• Contract relationship between the parties
• Performance warranties
• Licensing laws
• Competitive bidding laws
• Entitlement to change of orders 
• Although there have been great strides towards
  design-build services, these legal issues need to
  be dealt with. As the number of DB projects goes
  up, there is hope that the future will be
  different.
• Solution Get legal experts to help you sort out
  the legal issues.
• Although the design-build project delivery
  approach comes with a number of advantages, it
  also presents some challenges for the contract
  manager. Luckily, there are solutions to these
  challenges as explained in this guide.

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Why New Homeowners are Opting for Architect-Led
Design Build

• If you have ever seen a building project to the
  end, you know it can get messy and frustrating
  really fast. Trying to play referee between
  architects and contractors, staying in budget,
  and managing delivery times require serious
  commitment and effort. It is even worse if you,
  as the project owner, have to split your time
  between the project and other undertakings like
  your job or running your business. This is why
  design-build is popular among homeowners these
  days. This is a single point-responsibility
  approach to construction where either an
  architect or contractor is given control over the
  project.
• Let us zero in on architect-led design build and
  examine why new homeowners are crazy about it.

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What Is An Architect-Led Designer Build?

• As the term sounds, this approach is where an
  architect is responsible for the means of
  construction, safety procedures, techniques, and
  the well-being of everyone handling the project.
  They are in charge of the total cost of the
  project (both the design and construction
  phases), timings for substantial and final
  completion, all project delay costs if
  applicable, all safety procedures, costs of
  mechanics, and architects sub-consultants or
  subcontractors. In other words, the architect is
  the person controlling all design and
  construction services necessary to complete the
  project. To do this, the architect must obtain
  the contractors commercial general liability
  policies and proper licenses.

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Why Architect-Led Design Build?

• There are several reasons why the architect-led
  design build is huge in the construction industry
  now. Here are some of them.
• 1. Single Point Responsibility
• In traditional construction, the designer and
  contractor are notorious for playing the blame
  game when something goes wrong in the project.
  Often, this causes issues with honoring
  warranties and litigation because none wants to
  be responsible. In architect-led design build
  projects, the architect has full responsibility
  for the projects outcome. This means that if the
  plan fails to develop the required number of
  kilowatt-hours, the architect bears the blame
  even if the parties dont know what caused the
  failure in the first place.

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• 2. Shorter Time Of Delivery
• The second reason homeowners fancy the design
  build strategy is because it guarantees a shorter
  duration of the project. When the same party is
  handling both the design and construction phases,
  initial construction and procurement can take
  place before the completion of the design phase.
  The last months of the design stage overlap the
  first months of the construction/procurement
  stage. The end result is time savings which
  translate to reduced construction costs and
  faster revenue.
• 3. Minimal Claims
• Single-point responsibility also ensures that
  there are few or no claims for extras during
  building projects. This is in contrast to
  traditional construction projects where a
  contractor is entitled to compensation caused by
  errors, ambiguities, or omissions in the
  specifications and plans.

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• 4. Performance Warranties
• Finally, architect-led design build makes it
  possible to construct overall performance
  warranties and to tally them alongside
  coordinated damage causes. Traditional
  construction largely does not have performance
  warranties because the constructor may throw the
  blame to the designer and vice-versa in case of a
  failure.
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• Building a house is a huge undertaking. This is
  why homeowners prefer using a method that leaves
  with the least amount of worry, anxiety, and
  concern. The architect-led design build can do
  that and more.
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