Design & Build

Cost Reduction Incentives

The design team has a better feel for the construction cost of various alternatives and can present design options that are often less expensive to build. There is a greater incentive to focus on value engineering, and the project owner enjoys the full benefit of the associated cost savings.

Fast Track Completion

Since the contractor responsible for building the project is involved during scope development, a more accurate schedule can be developed and adhered to. Additionally, because there is no dead time between completion of design and the start of construction, it is easier to ramp up for a project and the result is that DBC projects are usually completed on time.

The Liability Gap

With DBC, there can be design errors or omissions for which the owner is liable to the construction contractor under the warranty of correctness but cannot transfer the liability on to the design professional. The DBC methodology eliminates this gap and reduces the Owner’s risk with respect to errors or omissions.

Accurate Costing

The DBC team selects the equipment and designs around the selected equipment, whereas the typical design-bid-build approach usually has to suggest at least two options of equal products, which may compromise the ability of the team to suggest a far superior product. Under DBC, all of the options are presented to the customer and once the product specifications are agreed upon, the costs of the selected products are immediately and accurately incorporated into the budget.

One Point of Contact

In the design-bid-build process, there can be a huge administrative burden, with several solicitations, awards, and contracts to administer. The additional benefit of DBC is one of streamlined simplicity: one point of contact and one entity accountable from start to finish.