What is design-build?

Design-Build is one of the many services that Dean Kurtz Construction offers. This style of construction management has greatly accelerated in popularity over the past 15 years, making it a very significant style and trend in construction. Design-build is a unique construction management method that is utilized to help the owner have more contact, but with fewer people involved. By utilizing design-build, one single person is the main contact for every part of the project and holds the single-source responsibility and contractual risk for every aspect of the build. This single source handles estimation, assessments, pre-construction, architecture, engineering, subcontracting, construction, and post-construction.

Most construction management projects include a designer and a contractor and the owner of the property must sign a contract with each of those entities who then communicate with their subcontractors. However, with design-build, the owner only has to contract with one single point of responsibility: the design-builder.

Another perk of design-build is the company handing a design-build project is able to put together their own team, enabling them to work together to solve unforeseen problems vs. a normal construction management project that can make it difficult to discuss and make changes in a timely fashion. This gives the client a greater sense of accountability and control over the project that they are invested in.

When you decide to pick a design-builder, there may be a more competitive bidding process for the project. We’d recommend picking a design-builder based on credentials, experience, expertise, and a good working team. Avoid going for the hard-dollar, lowest bidder because in design-build construction management, it is hard to say how much a project will cost exactly before digging into the project, which can lead to misleading and uncertain estimates.

The best thing about design-build is that you, as the owner, not only have more control over the project, but you also have better involvement, more expertise, continuity, open communication, and increased collaboration. It’s a team effort and in the end that saves you money on your project.

Visit our Design-Build page to learn more about how the process works at Dean Kurtz Construction and how our design-build team can help you with any project. You can also see a portfolio of some of the design-build projects we have managed.