What is Design-Build?

There’s a reason you’ve probably been hearing the term “design-build” lately. That’s because it’s awesome.

Let’s say you want to build something (don’t we all?). You’re probably familiar with the traditional path. As the Owner, you hire an architect or designer, and a contractor. “And never the twain shall meet.” Kipling may have been the one to set this phrase on paper, but it holds true in this application.

You’ve signed off on your plans and take them to find a contractor, who then goes out and secures sub-contractors. The contractor completes the pricing exercise (separate from the design fees you’ve already paid) and then the plans are submitted for permitting. You see the weak spots on the track for possible derailment, right?

Maybe the budget comes in too high, or the city requires changes in order to approve permits, or a sub-contractor identifies a missing piece of critical detail. So the plans go back to the architect/designer, who was excluded from the process that caused the plans to be kicked back in the first place. Now, she or he has to revise (another bill is coming your way), hand off the designs and the process repeats itself.

Design-build is a single-stream project delivery system and it’s what we do — really well — at Interstruct Inc. The Owner hires a design-build firm who supplies design and contracting services under one roof. Anyone with a hand in the project is involved from the first meeting, all the way to final punch list and hand-over of the keys. Design-build is a single contract with a  single source of responsibility and it offers a net savings of time, money and brain damage (not joking).

Pricing is a service that we provide with the design-build process and we look at the project holistically: identifying the soft costs for design and planning, then the hard costs for construction. We examine the design perspective to determine the intricacies of the particular industry (bars and restaurants, or medical and dental offices for instance) and begin thinking about things that happen on the back end of the project. We bring specific experts in early to source accurate numbers, enabling us to provide our clients the most comprehensive “all in” number possible. That means a budget that takes into account equipment, technology and even soft furnishings and decor. Our nearly two decades of experience allow us to see things that otherwise may go unnoticed.

Our philosophy is that we operate and exist to do the best possible project that we can, and to be an expert in the field that we are working in, and to use our experience to benefit our client.

Have a project in mind? Contact Interstruct by clicking HERE.

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