If you want to design a building, it’s vital to choose the right project management framework. Traditionally, project owners will enter into a separate contract with design and construction teams, which can lead to friction, adversarial interactions, cost overages, and missed deadlines.
Enter the design-build method, an increasingly popular approach for completing specialty commercial projects. Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is Design-Build Construction?
Under the design-build framework, you’ll enter into a single contract with a unified entity. The contractor and designer collaborate from day one, which ensures improved communication and streamlined workflows.
In a design-build arrangement, you eliminate the traditional separation between the architects and engineers and the construction contractor. The design-builder assumes responsibility for both the design and construction aspects of your project, seeing it through from initial development to completion. This streamlined process can help keep your project on track and enhance the quality of the finished asset.
Benefits of Unifying Building Design and Construction
The design-build approach offers a plethora of benefits, including increased sustainability and streamlined communication between key parties. Other advantages of this unified framework include:
Reduced Risk
The biggest advantage of design-build is that it drastically reduces your risk. By entrusting both phases of a project to one party, you minimize the likelihood of scheduling conflicts, cost overruns, and delays. As a result, you can enjoy peace of mind for the entire lifecycle of the project.
Cost Savings
Design-build projects can lead to huge cost savings due to the efficiency gains you’ll unlock. Everyone will be working under one umbrella, which promotes improved scheduling and collaboration, as well as the potential for value engineering and cost-effective design solutions.
Faster Project Delivery
Every day that passes after your deadline can lead to tens of thousands in extra costs. If you want to keep stakeholders happy and avoid catastrophic overages, it’s vital to have a unified construction team.
Through design-build principles, you can accelerate the delivery date. Construction can commence while design development is still underway, reducing your overall timeline. Speeding things up early in the process will also provide the flexibility needed to address any challenges that emerge late in the build.
Collaboration
Design-build encourages collaboration between engineers, architects, builders, and subcontractors. This approach fosters a more cohesive and integrated project team. Ensuring strong chemistry among the workforce can provide trickle-down benefits, such as better productivity and increased efficiency.
Single Point of Responsibility
From a logistics standpoint, you will avoid the headache of juggling two high-value contracts. You will have a single point of contact from start to finish, which simplifies communication and decision-making processes. If an issue emerges, you will know just who to call. More importantly, they will be able to mobilize the entire team to remedy the problem.
Design-Build Firms Near Me
Are you ready to get your project moving? If so, connect with Hammers Construction in Colorado Springs. Our commercial construction team specializes in design-build strategies, which promote better collaboration, efficiency, and agility.
Give us a call, and let’s chat about your project demands.