Design-Build Approach to Construction:

At Powers & Associates, our Design-Build approach to construction is based on the TEAM concept. The Owner, General Contractor, Subcontractors, Architect, Designers, Engineers and others all work together in an atmosphere of trust and commitment; not only to the success of the current project, but also to long term business alliances. Established reputations for competence and ethical behavior are vital characteristics for the team members. As compared to bidding the work, our Design-Build approach should result in an overall cost savings for the Owner, or the ability to put more value into the work for the same cost, as well as a quicker schedule. Additionally, the effort required by the Owner to administer the work from concept to completion should be significantly easier and more rewarding than that required for a bid job. The advantages of our Design-Build approach can be summarized as follows:

These advantages and other distinctions of our Design-Build approach are further discussed below:

1. The Owner will realize significant savings in the cost of construction documents and contract administration that should more than offset any savings that might be gained by the Bid approach.
   For a bid job the construction documents must be prepared up front, in great and specific detail, and at an early and significant cost to the Owner, to assure that all bidders are quoting the same scope of work. These documents are created with the idea of protecting the Owner from the adversarial atmosphere that is often found when work is being executed by the low bidder. Detailed architectural plans and specifications are necessary as are plans and specs for all disciplines that might be required, such as civil engineering, structural engineering, plumbing systems, HVAC systems, electrical systems, special equipment, etc. The Owner must also pay the significant cost of the architect’s effort to manage the bidding process and the construction process.
   Also, in our Design-Build approach the competitive advantage the Owner expects from bidding the job is not lost. We will in fact take bids on all phases of the work from subcontractors and suppliers who have proven to be valuable and reliable members of our Design-Build teams. These bids will be carefully evaluated by the team, including the Owner in certain cases, to determine the best value for the Owner. Our Design-Build approach has proven to provide the Owner with the best of both worlds – competitive pricing, shortest possible time for project completion, best value for the scope of work, and last but not least, our concept will reduce the frustration and stress that is associated with the conventional bid process.
2. The Owner will receive much faster feedback on project pricing.
   By greatly reducing the scope of the early construction documents and the time to prepare them, our Design-Build approach allows us to get early budget pricing from potential team members as well as early input on ideas for value engineering the project. This provides quick feedback to the Owner on the project pricing, and quickly initiates the process of value engineering the project to fit within the Owner’s budget. Budget pricing can be quickly updated as the scope of the project evolves.
3. The Owner will realize a faster schedule from conception to completion.
   By greatly reducing the scope of the construction documents required up front, and eliminating the bid process, our Design-Build approach gets the entire team involved much earlier. The required documents can be developed by the team as the pricing and project definition phase continues. This approach allows team input into the documents, reducing the need for down-stream revisions, and making the team much better prepared to start when an authorization to proceed is given.
4. The Owner will experience and benefit from a team atmosphere rather than an adversarial atmosphere.
   The team atmosphere is based on trust, a commitment to each other and to the project, and a desire to build long-term business relationships. In this environment all team members are encouraged and expected to offer the benefit of their knowledge and experience to generate the best construction plan that will meet the needs of the Owner. Ingenuity and innovation are encouraged. Communication and coordination is enhanced. It fosters the desire to find a win-win solution to any challenge that is presented and builds commitment to common goals. This planning input from the people who will actually do the work will maximize the benefits of value engineering, minimize the problems during construction, and shorten the schedule. The Owner will enjoy a friendly, enabling, creative and positive atmosphere throughout the project.
   On the other hand, the Bid approach anticipates an adversarial atmosphere and attempts to protect the owner by rigidly defining the construction and administrative requirements. It is designed to hold the participants to the letter of the contract. This atmosphere encourages a defensive, non-creative stance by the participants. The Owner may well find this atmosphere to be negative, contentious and time consuming.
5. The Owner will experience a single point of responsibility.
   In our Design-Build approach, we will be the Owner’s single point of responsibility for the project’s design and construction. This single source of project responsibility serves to minimize the owner’s risk and commitment of resources required to coordinate and administer the project. In the Bid approach, the Owner must separately contract for the design and then the construction.
   

Typical Phases for the Design-Build Approach:

At Powers & Associates, our Design-Build approach will usually evolve as described below:

1. Preliminary Project Review – The Owner meets with Powers & Associates and our architect for a preliminary review of the project.
2. Design-Build Proposal – Powers & Associates will submit a proposal for a Design-Build effort to the Owner. This proposal will normally specify the professional services and associated costs needed to establish a Budget Design, advance to a Contract Design, and ultimately result in a Construction Contract for the project. If the Owner elects to proceed, the Budget Design effort will commence.
3. Budget Design and Price – Typically the Architect will be engaged to prepare Budget Design drawings to fix the general size and character of the project. Other professional services, such as geotechnical, civil, structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering services will be employed as required, or the Owner may prefer that we just use our best judgment in these areas at this stage of the design. From this effort a Budget Design will be delivered, and after approval by the Owner, a Budget Price will be prepared based on the Budget Design.
   If the Owner elects not to proceed after review of the Budget Price, the Owner has no further obligations to Powers & Associates other that the payment of compensation for the Budget Design effort.
4. Contract Design and Price – If, after review of the Budget Price, the Owner desires to proceed with the project, then the Architect, as well as other agreed upon Engineers, will be asked to prepare Contract Design documents in full compliance with codes and jurisdictional requirements. Before proceeding with the Contract Design an estimate of the cost of the effort to advance from a Budget Design to a Contract Design will be provided to the Owner. A Contract Price will be established based on the Contract Design documents.
5. Construction Contract – If, after receipt and review of the Contract Price, the Owner desires to proceed with the project, then the Owner and Powers & Associates will enter in to a further agreement for the construction of the project employing a mutually agreeable form of contract. All compensation for the Budget Design and Contract Design efforts will be credited toward the final contract for construction.