General Construction for a long time was the primary method of delivering construction. Even Wolgast in the early years was a one-trick pony with General Construction being our only option. That is, until the 1970’s when we were the first to bring Design-Build to what’s now known as the Great Lakes Bay Region.
The needs of busy business people who didn’t have much knowledge about construction drove the creation of the Design-Build delivery method. The Clients were educated people who knew a lot about their line of business, but never had an opportunity to learn about construction practices. They needed guidance and, really, someone to be their advocate as they went through the process.
What is Design-Build
In a nutshell, The Design-Build method is classified by the Architect and Contractor being on the same team. The company that’s responsible for designing the building is also responsible for making sure it’s constructed on time and within budget. It’s a true collaboration throughout the project between the Client, Architect and Contractor from concept to completion. Through three phases, the Contractor reviews the progress drawings with the Architect to ensure that the project is still within budget and can be completed by the deadline. Potential challenges can be flagged early and discussed to be mitigated.
Two Important Benefits of Design-Build
1 - An Owner can get an accurate estimate earlier – when using the General Construction delivery method, you have to wait for plans to be completed by the Architect to hand over to the Contractor for bidding. Owners won’t have a cost estimate until he or she already has plans for their dream building set. With the Design-Build method, an Owner can get a preliminary budget, roughly, a month or so after meeting with the Architect depending on the size of the project. He or she will then have enough information to know if financing is needed and, if so, documentation to take to the bank to get their loan approval. Additionally, he or she will have easily and cost effectively made design adjustments to create a dream building within their budget.
2 – An Owner will be able to find the best price from local bidders – when a General Construction project is put out to bid, there’s normally limited time for General Contractors to solicit Subcontractors for their trade bids by the deadline, which means that the project only gets a couple of solicited bids for each trade. When a construction project is delivered through the Design-Build method, the Design-Builder has the opportunity to set their own deadline and get bids from all local subcontractors (or any that an Owner may request), which means that there’s no hit or miss with getting all the low numbers. An Owner will have all of the lowest numbers in their bid package.
Contact Michael Shepard to get an early preliminary budget, the best price and exceptional quality for your next building project. 800-965-4278, mshepard@wolgast.com.
