Masonry Magazine October 2000 Page. 10
COVER STORY
THE
DESIGN/BUILD
DEBATE
By Steve Saucerman
In his autobiography, Mark Twain said that "there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies,... and statistics," so it's with some hesitation that I begin this piece with a stat, but the numbers regarding design/build are certainly worth noting.
You see, according to the Design Build Institute of America and also in a recent US News & World Report feature - the use of design/build (DB) as a construction project delivery vehicle has enjoyed a steady and rapid ascent (as a percentage of total construction projects) in recent years and is still climbing.
In fact, both sources estimate that DB now makes up roughly 30% of commercial construction contracts and will likely rise higher in the future predicting a 50% market share by the year 2005.
WHAT IS DESIGN/BUILD?
Design/build is a contractual relationship for construction where a lone general contractor (GC) works directly with the owner from the very beginning of the project and notably in the planning and design phases; a critical time. The GC is often accompanied by an architect/designer who is hired by the GC (or by the owner/GC together). Working together as a team, the partnership defines a budget for the project early on. After that, all parties are obliged to do whatever they can to deliver the project for that original budget.
The design phase still includes the same creation of plans & specifications, budget estimates, mechanical/electrical/structural/civil engineering, zoning/code adaptations, projected schedules, and the other conventional design items that normally go into an architectural package. The big difference with DB is that now the GC (or a sub-contractor acting as a prime) is on board - comfortable and agreeable with the costs from the very beginning. Also, the owner tends to feel more comfort knowing that the cost element is out in the open, under control, and that the GC is indeed "on his side."
COMPETITIVE BID
Design/build's main adversary is the conventional competitive-bid scenario, where a number (sometimes very many) of contractors choose to submit blind competitive cost proposals on a construction project. These proposals are required to be delivered to a pre-determined location (often the owner or architect office) before a set date and time (the bid deadline). The bidders may either have been selected by the owner/architect team, or the bid may simply be open to anyone who thinks they have a chance of succeeding.
The combatants work up their numbers based on a package of plans and specifications created by an architect-who has been hired by the owner. The contractor is generally not involved in the creation of the bid documents. A project budget is established early on (most often by the architect), but-without the assistance of an experienced GC (who has far more experience costing projects) - these budget numbers often end up being erroneous. Indeed, in my years as an estimator, it has not been at all uncommon for competitive bid situations to gener-