Design-build project delivery continues to grow in use and popularity and will account for 47% of construction spending in 2025, according to a report issued by the Design-Build Institute (DBIA) of America and Fails Management Institute (FMI).
Respondents in the “Design-Build Utilization Update” rated the experience with design-build highest of all project delivery methods, with more than 75% reporting very good and excellent experiences.
Their praise for design-build echoed the advantages extolled by Haskell founder Preston Haskell III since he began pioneering the method in 1965, when it was little-known and barely considered an alternative the traditional design-bid-build approach.
In a design-bid-build scenario, the project owner hires a design firm, or firms, for architectural and engineering work, then receives a set of construction documents on which contractors bid, with the job going to the lowest bidder. Owners typically depend on the architect’s skill and integrity to represent their best interests and oversee construction.
But the bifurcated process creates divergent interests, with designers seeking to maximize quality and contractors seeking to minimize costs. The delta often leads to communication gaps, tensions between parties, complications for the owner, overruns in cost and schedule and even significant legal issues.
Design-build all but eliminates those conflicts. One company combines the design and construction phases in a single contract, making a single party accountable to the owner. Architects, engineers and builders work together from the project’s inception. Open collaboration throughout produces greater innovation, efficiency and value.
The Update reports that use of design-bid-build would account for only 15% of construction spending by 2025. It notes that when assessing the best delivery method for a project, owners identified goals and objectives, project complexity and innovation and project schedule as the most influential factors in project delivery method selection. Across the top factors influencing project delivery method selection, over 50% of survey respondents indicated design-build exceeded expectations.
“Our four biggest selling points are early knowledge of firm cost, singularity of responsibility, savings in time and savings in dollars,” Preston Haskell said.
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