Parking September 2010 - 45

Diagram 1 – Design-Bid-Build Structure

Diagram 2 – Design-Build Structure

Owner

Direct Communication

Design Team

Contractor

DesignBuilder
Direct Communication and Collaboration

Direct Communication and Collaboration Indirect Communication and Minimal Collaboration

SubContractors

Design Team

SubContractors

project. Once the design is complete, the documents are then issued for permit/drawing review to the authority having jurisdiction. That authority can be the local city plan reviewers, county plan reviewers, or someone designated by the state institution to review the drawings. Once the authority issues approval of the design documents, they are released for bid to various contractors. Depending on the complexity of the project, the bidding phase typically lasts between four to eight weeks. The owner and the design team then evaluate the bids from the contractors and select the contractor they believe will bring the best value to the owner. After selection, the owner and contractor come to an agreement of terms before construction can commence. Once construction is started, the “fun” really begins. The contractor often dissects the design drawings and develops numerous requests for information (RFI’s) and change order requests. The change order process can be a tumultuous time and can pit the design team against the contractor. The owner, who has separate contracts with the designer and the contractor, is often caught in the middle and has to pay the contractor for the requested change orders. Change orders can also delay construction as the design team goes through a verification process of the proposed change orders and makes recommendations to the owner as to whether or not they believe the change orders are justifiable. The contractor often

delays construction or purchasing of the item in question until he receives the owner’s confirmation that the change order has been approved. Clearly, the owner typically shoulders much of the risk in a design-bidbuild delivery format and is usually caught up in many of the contractor/design team disputes.

Design-Build Process
In contrast, owners frequently see the design-build process as a way to transfer that risk to the contractor by having the contractor directly hire the design team to provide design documents that are suitable for construction. In the design-build delivery format, the client often solicits bids from qualified design-builders to provide both design and construction services for a project based on a set of standards developed by the owner, or by an owner's representative. These representatives are typically architects that provide a basis of design or a set of preliminary design drawings called “bridging documents.” Once the owner selects the design-build team, they begin designing and issuing milestone packages for pricing, so that the design-builder can check their bid price against the current design. The design-build process is seen as collaborative between the designers and the contractor. At a predetermined milestone agreed upon in the contract negotiations (typically at 50 percent construction documents), the design-builder will issue a guaranteed maximum price to the owner. At this point, the
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Parking September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Parking September 2010