The construction industry is seeing a growing shift toward the design-build project delivery method, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. With the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) predicting that, by 2028, design-build will account for almost half of all construction spending, contractors are increasingly embracing design-build to meet changing owner needs, improve project outcomes, and set themselves apart in a competitive market.
Factors driving the growth of design-build include opportunities to streamline and expedite project delivery as well as potentially reduce the risk of project delays (and related costs), when compared with the conventional design-bid-build approach. Improved and earlier cross-project team collaboration, which is essential to design-build, is key to realizing these benefits.
Under the traditional linear design-bid-build model, projects follow a sequential and potentially lengthy process. Owners and their architect partners first complete design work, then an often-prolonged bidding phase follows. Once that selection process is complete, construction begins, and disconnects between the design work/team and the construction teams can make issue resolution more complex and more costly both in time and money.
In contrast, the design-build approach brings the design and construction teams together early in the project. This more collaborative, consultative approach enables those teams to identify and resolve potential clashes, materials suitability issues, and other construction complications before they arise at the jobsite. Once construction begins, the design and construction teams remain connected around this shared project data, allowing for a collaborative building process that helps everyone share insights, work efficiently, and resolve issues more smoothly.
COLLABORATING FOR SUCCESS
The design-build approach, in which design and construction teams collaborate closely, underscores the paramount need for communication and shared information across all project participants—from the earliest stages of a project. That means teams must have the right tools to facilitate optimal information management throughout a project’s entire lifespan.
Integral to this collaborative ecosystem are capabilities such as document management, scheduling, risk management, and other critical functionality to enable all teams to have immediate access to pertinent information whenever needed. Cloud solutions that also enable cross-team model coordination and data visualization can help power the kind of real-time data sharing necessary to yield actionable insights and drive decision-making.
NEED FOR TRANSPARENCY
To reduce the likelihood of costly delays and unexpected surprises for project owners, project-management tools should offer a transparent decision-making matrix that is accessible to all parties involved. To that end, it’s important to have well-defined reporting frameworks with agreed-upon frequencies and employer information requirements (EIRs), as well as consistent project standardization and governance practices. The best collaboration tools create a clear and permanent audit trail, providing clarity on the information underpinning project decisions and tasks. With a trustworthy record of project conversations and decisions, teams can see not just what happened but also why it happened. This enhanced transparency also fosters a shared understanding of emerging issues across the build team and owner, helping to speed resolution before problems worsen.
PROJECTING ALL PARTICIPANTS’ DATA
Confirming that all project information is centralized on a single platform is crucial for effective collaboration. In addition, you should look for collaboration solutions that protect every participant’s data ownership rights, meaning no organization has advantages over another in the project’s information-management system.
Such an approach fosters a level playing field, as all participating organizations know that no other organization on the system—including the system owner—can alter another’s data or restrict their access to their own data. This “neutrality” helps engender trust across project participants, while also reducing friction between teams. These factors in turn encourage greater system adoption. When organizations trust the system, they are less likely to feel compelled to manage their own, separate information stores—an approach that can lead to confusion and errors.
Stakeholders should also be able to establish workflows and controls that dictate who accesses specific data. For example, in the request for information (RFI) process, they must be confident that only certain contractors on the project have access to data shared with them. This also helps foster trust that only the right organizations see shared information.
TRUST POWERS DESIGN-BUILD
Trust is a key aspect of successful design-build projects, and teams can help build and reinforce needed trust with a system that protects data ownership and creates an unalterable project record on which all project participants can rely. At the end of the project, such a system contains the project’s full record, and each organization can take away their own data.
Throughout any design-build project, the larger project delivery team must demonstrate the success of the approach by providing transparent and regular updates on progress. This can be achieved through detailed reporting and benchmark-setting tools, offering a clear view of the project’s trajectory. With such tools providing real-time insights, delivery teams can show that progress is measurable and goals are achievable.
By leveraging the right technology that can capture a full, unalterable record of a given project, enhance cross-team communication, and protect every stakeholder’s data, construction teams can safely and responsibly use a design-build approach to supercharge their projects.
about the author
Matt Scroggins is product marketing director for Oracle Construction and Engineering, an American multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. For more, visit www.oracle.com/construction-engineering.