Design-bid-build: develop the design before bidding
The owner typically retains the designer separately, then seeks construction proposals from developed drawings and specifications. This gives bidders a common design to price. It can suit an owner who wants to establish the design before choosing the construction team.
The owner still needs to coordinate decisions between the separately retained parties. Unresolved existing conditions or incomplete documents remain pricing questions, even when the project follows a competitive bid process.
Design-build: one contract for design and construction
Design-build puts design and construction under one owner contract. It can be considered when the owner wants those responsibilities organized within the same delivery team. The owner needs a clear description of the required spaces, functions and quality before reviewing the team’s proposed solution.
Ask when the price is established, which assumptions remain and how design decisions or owner changes affect the commitment. Working collaboratively with a separately retained designer does not by itself create a design-build contract.
Construction management: define the management role
Construction management arrangements vary. A manager may advise and coordinate for the owner, or the arrangement may include construction obligations. Confirm who holds the construction contract before comparing proposals that use the same management label.
This discussion is useful when a project has several packages, owner vendors or operating constraints that need coordination. Identify the management tasks, reporting and decision authority included, then separate those services from design and construction responsibilities.
Compare the same decisions across the options
Review each option with the owner’s project team. A method that works for a developed design may be less suited to a project with major unanswered scope questions. Early construction input can help identify those questions, but it does not by itself settle a price or schedule.
- Who holds design responsibility and who contracts for the construction?
- What information is available when the owner commits to a price?
- Who coordinates owner vendors, changes and existing-condition discoveries?
- Which decisions remain with the owner, and when are they needed?
Confirm the available route before selection
Have the owner’s purchasing and legal advisers confirm the available contract and selection process, especially for public work. Then agree on review points and approval authority. Discuss the actual team and arrangement with prospective providers rather than relying on a delivery-method label.