That little word “Bid” can surely make a big difference when looking ahead to any given Branch Transformation project. You may be wondering what the difference is between these two concepts, or you may be wondering, “Have I even ever heard of this concept?” Don’t worry, we’ll explain below.
The best way to understand “Design-Build” compared to “Design-Bid-Build” is that the former is a more unified approach to the two seemingly separate concepts of “Design” and “Build.”
When a project is approached with a “Design-Build” strategy, these two separate concepts become joined at the hip and the overall branch, main office, or facility building will be better for it.
These two phases act as equal halves of a greater whole.
The reason you want these two to work so closely, if not tied to one another, is primarily due to your budget. A “Design-Build” project has a more predictable and controllable budget.
After all, when a Branch Transformation project commences with this in mind, the design of a building is done with construction in mind, from materials, labor and timing being critical elements that impact the overall spend.
When a project is initiated in a phased approach, with forward thinking strategies and budgetary considerations taking a backseat, your budget will suffer.
Think of this sequentially instead of jointly. When a design is commissioned and approved, the “Build” phase then goes out to Bid. You send out an RFP to hopefully qualified builders, who then need to interpret the Design you are showing them, who will then in turn try to interpret costs to the best of their ability.
This is where costs begin to balloon and lend to inevitable Change Orders.
If the construction company wasn’t privy to the strategy and Design from the onset, how involved are they really? And, to fix this disjointed scenario, someone’s gonna have to pay (who could that be?).
Of course, there’s much more to it than this. To learn more about these processes and get a better understanding of the pros and cons, Contact a LEVEL5 Design-Build expert today.
