Design-Build Management
Design-build compresses schedule and gives you one entity responsible for both design and construction. It also transfers a meaningful amount of design control to that entity, which is why the criteria documents matter more than most owners expect.
We write the documents that define what you are buying, run the procurement, and represent you through delivery.
Design-build works when the criteria are right
The appeal of design-build is straightforward. One contract, one accountable party, overlapping design and construction, and a schedule that can be materially shorter than design-bid-build. Public agencies in California increasingly have statutory authority to use it, and private owners have used it for decades.
The risk is equally straightforward. Under design-build, the design-builder controls design decisions within the criteria you set. If those criteria are vague, you will receive the cheapest interpretation that satisfies the words on the page. Every disappointment we have seen on a design-build project traces back to a criteria document that did not say what the owner assumed it said.
Bridging documents and design criteria
We develop the owner's criteria package: performance requirements, prescriptive requirements where they matter, quality standards, systems basis of design, site constraints, agency conditions, and the design development level at which each element is fixed. Done well, this document is the project.
Design-builder procurement
We structure and run the selection process: qualifications based prequalification, request for proposals development, evaluation criteria and weighting, technical proposal review, price proposal analysis, interview structure, and award recommendation. On public projects we work within the applicable best value procurement statute.
Owner oversight during delivery
Once the design-builder is on board, our role shifts to protecting the owner's position: reviewing design submissions against the criteria, verifying that value engineering proposals do not quietly reduce quality, validating the guaranteed price, monitoring construction, and evaluating changes for whether they are genuinely owner directed or design-builder scope that was always included.
In design-build, the owner's leverage is spent almost entirely before award. After that, you are enforcing a document you already wrote.
Progressive design-build
Where the scope is not fully definable at procurement, progressive design-build lets you select a team on qualifications, develop the design collaboratively, and set a price when the scope is understood. We support owners through validation, open book cost development, and the go or no go decision at price commitment.
Design-build scope
- Delivery method analysis and recommendation
- Bridging document and criteria package development
- Performance and prescriptive specification balance
- Prequalification and shortlist management
- Request for proposals development
- Evaluation criteria and scoring methodology
- Technical and price proposal evaluation
- Interview and selection facilitation
- Contract negotiation support
- Design submission review against criteria
- Independent price validation
- Construction phase owner oversight
What you receive
Every engagement is scoped in writing before it begins, so you know exactly what is being produced and when.
Delivery method analysis
A written comparison of design-bid-build, design-build, CM at-risk, and progressive design-build against your specific project, funding, and risk profile.
Design criteria package
The complete owner requirements document defining performance, quality, systems, site constraints, and fixed design elements.
Procurement documents
Prequalification package, request for proposals, evaluation methodology, and scoring instruments consistent with applicable statute.
Proposal evaluation report
Technical and price analysis of each proposal with a documented award recommendation that will survive a protest.
Design review logs
Comment logs tracking each design submission against the criteria package, with the design-builder's response recorded.
Price validation analysis
An independent estimate against the design-builder's proposed price, with reconciliation of the differences line by line.
Questions owners ask about this service
Is design-build always faster?
Usually, but not always. The schedule advantage comes from overlapping design and construction, which requires the owner to make decisions faster than they would under design-bid-build. If the owner's decision process is slow, design-build gives back its advantage and adds change order exposure.
Can public agencies in California use design-build?
Many can, under statutory authority that varies by agency type and project value. The applicable code section, procurement method, and prequalification requirements differ between cities, counties, districts, and school districts. We confirm the authority and the required process before designing the procurement.
Who owns design risk under design-build?
The design-builder, for the design they produce. The owner retains risk for the accuracy and completeness of the criteria documents and for any information they furnish, including geotechnical data. That allocation is why the criteria package deserves real investment.
Should we still hire an independent estimator on a design-build project?
Yes. Under design-build there is no competitive bid to validate the price after award. An independent owner side estimate is the only check on whether the guaranteed price is reasonable. This is one of our most common design-build assignments.
Talk to us about Design-Build Management
Send us the project details and we will tell you what a defensible scope of work looks like and what it would cost. Initial consultations carry no fee.
Send us the project
Tell us the site, the scope, and the deadline. Initial consultations carry no fee and no obligation.