| |
In the Public
Interest?
Recently, we were honored to provide architectural
services for two community recreational facilities,
each serving a separate local municipality. The facilities
are different in both style and scale, but they are
similar in their basic community function. Most pointedly,
they contrast how similar projects move toward
completion. The smaller of the two projects was publicly owned
and funded, and was therefore mandated
by the municipality to use the Design-Bid delivery system.
The other project was privately owned and
operated, and therefore allowed to use the Design-Build delivery
system.
As architects, we work with both systems every
day. We at Roll & Associates recognize that any company
or board or municipality considering a building project will,
as part of proper due diligence, consider carefully
both options for delivery. Although we have a great deal of
experience with both, and are fully supportive of
owners who make either choice, we have made the following
conclusions, all of which are dramatically
illustrated by these two projects:
|
Design-Build
projects take less time to
go from design to construction. The reason, of course,
|
| |
is that bidding requires
far greater attention to details and specifications, which
consumes a
great deal of an architect’s time and energy. And
most of this effort does not result in greater
construction quality, but is primarily done to protect
the architect and owner from an unknown
contractor…classic “CYA.”
|
|
Design-Build
projects cost less to design.
See previous item. Our fees for the Design-Bid project,
|
| |
despite the smaller size, are over
100% higher than the feel for the Design-Bid project.
|
|
Design-Build
projects ultimately cost less to build.
The basic assumption by an Owner is that he |
| |
needs to bid a project to get the
lowest cost. This assumption is usually true…initially.
The hidden
costs in the Design-Bid system accrue after the bidding
is over and construction starts. These
costs are commonly known as change orders, and they can
quickly erase whatever savings the
owner thought he had achieved in the initial bid. In the
Design-Build process, change orders do
not exist (unless voluntarily initiated by the owner).
|
|
Finally, Design-Build
projects proceed far more smoothly
than Design-Bid for the simple reason |
| |
that the Designer and Builder are
a team right from the start. Design-Bid projects invariably
become
adversarial, pitting the owner and his architect against
the “untrustworthy” contractor. |
In the decades to come, we as architects
cannot turn our backs on either delivery system, but we clearly
should embrace Design/Build as a highly desirable option for
serving our clients efficiently and creatively.
NEXT
DESIGN-BUILD ARTICLE >> |
