Design-Build Project Delivery Approach

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

2. 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? • • •

3. 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. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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. genuine talent, skill, and experience. Do not settle for low price but rather,

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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 project’s goals. The project leader should ensure that everyone knows what he or she needs to do at every point of the project. 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 owner’s lips. If you are to join the list, watch out for the above-highlighted tips.

9. 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. 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. Unfortunately, contractors and

10. 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. Solution: Every team member should be trained to foster an integrated, collaborative environment.

11. 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. building a strong cohesive team is easier said than done. management down to the bottom teams should be very competent. When you hire the wrong people, you will soon experience trouble. However, Everyone from the top Solution: The person in charge should put effort and time into selecting every single worker for the team.

12. 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. 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. Often, these Solution: Communicate mutual expectations from either party before signing any contract.

13. 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. flexible, available, and knowledgeable and discover what they should do always. They should be Solution: Clearly explain the scope of work of every team member.

14. 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.

15. 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.

16. 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 architect’s 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 contractor’s commercial general liability policies and proper licenses.

17. 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 project’s 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 don’t know what caused the failure in the first place.

18. 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.

19. 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. 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.