Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1
The History of Design-Build
Walker Lee Evey, former president and CEO of DBIA
INTRODUCTION
Whenever a single source is responsible for both design and construction of a project,
the delivery method is termed
design-build
. From the perspective of an owner, a design-
builder has sole responsibility for the cost, the schedule, and the quality of a project,
and for all issues of coordination and control. That definition, however, fails to clearly
convey the principal advantage of design-build (DB) over traditional design-bid-build
(DBB); it eliminates the friction between designers and constructors that occurs when
they are hired under separate contracts, which then may create an adversarial relation-
ship. Because this advantage is significant, there has been a large increase in the use of DB
for water and wastewater projects worldwide. Owners recognize that, through the use of
DB competition techniques and the ability to overlap construction and design activities
of a project, the final cost and schedule for a project by DB can be much improved over
traditional DBB.
The recent growth of DB is considered by some to be a dramatic transformation of
the water and wastewater industry, a revolutionary development moving toward new and
different ways of doing business. In reality, the industry is not embarking on a voyage into
the unknown. Instead, it has come full circle; it is returning to a historically successful and
well proven design and construction methodology.
Within DB project delivery, there are many different ways to structure projects, allo-
cate or share risk, incorporate qualifications into selection of a design-builder, control or
monitor design decisions, incorporate advanced or emerging technologies, foster team-
building relationships through incentives, and include operations contracts or special
financing arrangements, if desired. This potential for flexibility in DB further increases
its attractiveness and, as owners become more familiar with the advantages inherent in
this flexibility, DB will continue to grow as a more efficient and effective project delivery
method for meeting owner needs in water and wastewater projects.
As the industry progresses, it is also adapting traditional DBB and other project
delivery approaches to better suit project and owner needs. For example, construction
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