As with any type of project, effective communication is paramount and a design-build model helps ensure that a construction project’s contractor and designer are on the same page. The design-build approach is becoming more commonplace for construction and infrastructure initiatives in the public and private sectors. The entire design/construction team works for the owner under a single contract, which streamlines processes and provides budget, scheduling, and quality efficiencies and enhances project performance.
Why Choose A Design-Build Construction Approach?
- Quality – extensive collaboration between a designer and contractor can help ensure that a final construction project is high-quality
- Cost efficiency – By decreasing the timeline and level of risk involved in the development of a construction project, costs can be significantly reduced.
- Timely decision making – With a traditional construction project delivery, there are two separate contracts and this can often lead to schedule changes and delays.
- Risk Mitigation – Due to its single-contract setup, the design-build collaboration also often entails a lower risk of litigation (e.g. in the event of disagreements between designers and contractors) or other similar risks.
Owners Benefit From Multiple Efficiencies
TW Construction’s design-build contracting capabilities provide the project owner with peace of mind and the efficiency of working with a single design/construction entity that is accountable for the entire project from concept to completion. TW leverages years of experience in leadership and relationship-building to:
- Coordinate an integrated team with specialized expertise – Rather than work with individual workers, each of whom has unique responsibilities and rudimentary experience in many design or construction areas, you as an owner can work with a fully integrated team.
- Single point of responsibility – With a traditional project delivery setup, it can often become confusing who is in charge of managing everyone else. Limit the overall responsibility for the project to one person: yourself (the project owner).
- Eliminate errors and omissions: With a streamlined process and structure for your construction project, the risk of errors and omissions becomes substantially lower.
- Accelerate project delivery: A single-contract system also means your project timeline can be significantly shorter.
- Deliver achievable client goals: Your clients can also enjoy greater peace of mind if they know your project structure is streamlined from the onset.
- Provide coordinated solutions: Managing and coordinating solutions for your construction project become infinitely easier when you choose design-build collaboration.
Improved Construction Project Workflow From Start To Finish
Design-build collaboration ultimately helps simplify the overall workflow for a construction project from concept to completion. Regardless of the size or scope of a project, this single-contract model can help you mitigate risks and prevent delays. You also don’t have to worry about getting involved in disputes between designers and contractors. With this model, you are not subject to the liability gap that exists between the Spearin Doctrine and the Standard of Care. This doctrine states that contractors are protected from liability for damages arising from inaccurate or defective specifications and plans that project engineers or owners provide. In these cases, contractors must typically be able to prove that the damages to a project are a direct result of design flaws.
