Considering the Design/Build Process for CRE? Here’s What You Need to Know 

In a competitive industry like CRE, standing out is a must. Being unique and one-of-a-kind are key elements of success, and it’s giving rise to one of the business’ hottest trends.

Design/Build is taking the commercial world by storm as it’s changing the way that businesses are being established. It’s one of the fastest-growing methods for modern construction projects in the US, and the industry can’t get enough.

It’s helping to streamline CRE’s construction projects and find creative solutions to everyday problems faced by development teams. Let’s jump into the details and learn about what exactly design/build is, it’s benefits, and where it works best:

Design/Build Explained

In traditional construction, a property owner contracts two separate entities who work together to fulfill the design. Contractors and designers collaborate to build the property. Unfortunately, it isn’t always smooth sailing. 

Oftentimes problems arise between the teams since they are two separate entities. This adversarial approach can become a blockage in the construction process. 

The design/build scheme overcomes this common construction pain point by bringing the design team and contractors together. This collective force, called the ‘project delivery’, is bound under a single agreement. From the very start of a project, the design and construction teams work together – helping to mitigate potential issues. 

This way, property owners only need to contract out a single unit, meaning all the responsibility lies on one company. Besides the convenience it provides owners, single-source contracting promotes a team culture of connectivity, collaboration, and creativity. It’s a contemporary approach to solving traditional construction’s biggest problems. 

Benefits of Design/Build 

In addition to this, numerous other benefits come along with design-build contracts. This building strategy has been known to: 

  • Reduce design time

  • Simplify construction drawings

  • Reduce construction time

  • Create a single point of contact for communications

  • Minimize changing orders

  • Enabling advanced customization

  • Build upon open discussions and analysis for engineering solutions 

These are all reasons why the design-build scheme is revolutionizing the domestic construction industry. 

Where Does Design/Build Work Best? 

After reading about design-build, are you interested in choosing this route for your next CRE project? If so, it may be beneficial to consider the places where a design-build contract would work best. 

One of the most popular motivations for design-build systems in CRE is for its time-saving potential. Since the designers and contractors are working together, it enables construction to begin even before the design is finalized. It can built-as-designed, making it a much faster process – which can even save the owner money. 

Another popular application for the design-build method is for agencies looking to expedite the building process and begin collecting return on investment immediately. This is a common factor that comes up in CRE since investors, developers, and property owners can usually benefit from being in business as soon as possible. 

If you’re eager to start your commercial project as soon as possible and enhance collaborations between departments, design-build may be the answer. For more industry news, check out our blog.