Short answer is roughly 20% or more. Through a number of cost saving opportunities, the Design/Build Phased Approach to construction can be the most economical cost- and time-wise, not only saving on Architectural services, but also on the overall construction budget.
For Wolgast’s Design/Build program, we estimate that you can save 20% or more on your architectural costs by using this Phased Approach. Phase I Preliminary Drawings are the first step in our Phased Approach (A.K.A Design/Build Process). The Phase I offers many benefits including a nominal fee, an earlier budget and it can be tweaked before the more expensive Phase II Construction Documents begin. With Phase I Drawings, you’ll know your budget before investing in a final design. Additionally, estimators and our construction team have an opportunity to provide review and value engineering input early in the process.
Further evidence of savings includes the opportunity for more competitive bids. With Design/ Build Delivery, estimators have more time to line up a wider number of bidders making it a more competitive scenario. We know that Building Owners like competition in anticipation of a lower budget. The best news is that when one entity, the Design/Builder, is collecting all the bids then they will have all the low bids from which to choose. Alternatively, when a project goes Design/Bid/Build (A.K.A. General Construction Delivery), then multiple GCs are obtaining bids from a smaller pool of contractors (due to the quicker deadline for bidding) and they will hit or miss the lowest estimates from each trade. Building Owners can’t be sure that they have the lowest price by the most qualified sub-contractors.
Additionally, through continual prompt payment to our vendors and suppliers, Wolgast secures discounts that we pass along to our clients. This is a policy we have adopted because it’s an easy way to keep our costs down and save money for our clients.
With the Architect and Contractor on the same team, there’s little opportunity for discrepancy between the plans and the application, nor down time due to issues that stop construction. Our team will be motivated to openly communicate and quickly resolve any challenges so that the project stays on track and within budget.
Also important to note, our Architects are licensed and have had the same training as those in an Architectural Firm, so you will get the same caliber of drawings at a discount. Neil Frank, our on-staff Architect graduated from Lawrence Tech with a Master in Architecture, is registered both in Michigan and Washington and has over 20-years experience. We also work with independent, registered Architects from outside firms when capacity requires it.
Finally, the Design/Build Delivery Process provides significant information early, so that the construction team is able to start site work and possibly foundations prior to the Phase II Construction Drawings being complete. When it’s important to be in the building quickly, a Building Owner will benefit most from the Fast-Track, Design/Build Process to be in business faster.
In our White Paper, Why Some Business Owners Don't Do Design/Build, but Should we discuss all the benefits of this construction process and how it can save money for business owners. Download by clicking on the image below.
