LEE COMPANY - Mechanical Contractors and Engineers

DESIGN/BUILD PROCESS

The design-build process encompasses total responsibility for a project. This includes the responsibility for consultation with an owner in the selection process of a mechanical system; engineering design and the production of construction documents; and finally the actual installation of the system.

Today's design-build process offers reassurance that the design and construction industry can deliver comprehensive services. This valued assurance can only be provided by a singular source.

Lee Company wants full accountability for engineering and construction. By knowledgeably pursuing design quality, and by effectively controlling costs and schedule, Lee Company makes certain that concept-to-completion is more than idle discourse.

BENEFITS IN THE USE OF DESIGN BUILD

The benefits to be gained in establishing a well-designed and managed Design-Build process including the following:

Singular Responsibility - With both design and construction in the hands of a single entity, there is a single point of responsibility for quality, cost, and schedule adherence. The design-builder is motivated to deliver a successful project by fulfilling multiple parallel objectives, including aesthetic and functional quality, budget, and schedule for completion. With design-build, the owner is able to focus on scope/needs definition and timely decision-making, rather than on coordination between the designer and builder.

Quality - The singularized responsibility inherent in Design-Build serves as a motivation for high quality and proper project performance. The Owner's requirements and expectations are documented in performance terms and it is the Design-Builder's responsibility to produce results accordingly. The Design-Builder "warrants" to the Owner that the design documents are complete and free from error. (By contrast, with "traditional" design-bid-build, the owner "warrants" to the contractor that the drawings and specifications are complete and free from error. Because of the owner's warranty under "traditional" design-bid-build, the approach relies on restrictive contract language, extensive audit and inspection, and occasionally, the legal system, to ensure final project quality.)

Cost Savings - Design and construction personnel, working and communicating as a team, evaluate alternative materials and methods efficiently and accurately. Value engineering and constructability are utilized more effectively when the designers and contractors work as one team during the design process.

Time Savings - Because design and construction are overlapped, and because bidding periods and redesign time are eliminated, total design and construction time can be significantly reduced. Design-Build is ideal for the application of "Fast Track" construction techniques. With Design-Build, procurement and construction work begin before the working drawings are fully completed. The resulting time savings translates into lower costs and earlier utilization of the completed facility.

Reduced Administrative Burden - Because design-build is an integrated and streamlined process, the Owner's administrative burden can be reduced. The Owner is not required to invest time and money coordinating and arbitrating between separate design and construction contracts, but rather is able to focus on scope definition and timely decision making.

Early Knowledge of Firm Costs - Guaranteed construction costs are known far earlier than in the other delivery systems. The entity responsible for design is simultaneously estimating construction costs and can accurately conceptualize the complete project. Two-part contracting for Design-Build services affords the Owner a "go, no-go" decision point at the completion of preliminary design. The decision to proceed with the project is made before substantial design expenditure and with firm knowledge of the final cost.

Risk Management - Quality, cost and schedule expectations are clearly defined and appropriately balanced (individual risks are managed by the party best positioned to manage the risk.) Change orders due to drawing and specification errors are eliminated because the correction of such errors is the responsibility of the Design-Builder, not the Owner.

Minimized Planning Time and Expense - When the Design-Builder is selected through a negotiated process, both time and money are saved. Negotiated Design-Build selection avoids the requirement for the Owner to unilaterally complete all programming, project criteria and definition in order to conduct a meaningful and fair competition. The beneficial input of the Design-Builder during the critical planning and conceptual stage is preserved. The time and cost of a proposal competition can be avoided.