Washington, DC — Adherence to budget and schedule are hallmarks of effective design-build project delivery. Yet some observers maintain that these achievements come at a steep price, arguing that design-build is effective only for relatively simple, uncomplicated projects. They suggest that high design and aesthetics are still the province of traditional design and delivery modes. Nothing could be more wrong!
One need only examine some recently completed design-build projects to appreciate the high quality and originality that this delivery strategy often provides. Over the last three years, I have had the pleasure of managing DBIA’s design-build award competition. The submissions make a strong case that design-build is an essential enabling mechanism that nurtures and supports innovative, creative, and out-of-the-box thinking for an impressive array of challenging and complex projects.
Overview. Lee Smither (FMI) and Christopher Bell (Primavera Systems) explore the “seven habits of highly effective projects,” paralleling the personal strategies articulated by efficiency expert Stephen Covey. Drawing on the management practices of Best-in-Class firms, Smither and Bell emphasize the need to develop organizational discipline and standardized processes. They focus on how best to create a working environment that prizes creativity, innovation, and efficiency. In the Editorial Forum this month, Hugh Lester looks at this challenge as well.
Bill Reifsteck (Crowe Chizek and Company) poses provocative questions on the ability of U.S. design and construction firms to manage quality as well as their international counterparts. He references successful projects and procedures developed by Takenaka Corporation, one of the world foremost design-builders. Reifstreck offers a checklist of steps that U.S. firms should adopt to improve and regularly upgrade their quality performance.
Howard McKew (Richard D. Kimball Company) draws attention to sustainable design-build opportunities for the mechanical, electrical, and communication trades. He argues that the design-build process is especially well positioned to embrace building system commissioning. McKew outlines some of the challenges in transforming a subcontracting trade firm to a design-build firm, noting fundamental cultural shifts that must occur.
Dave Crumrine, Lowell Dykstra, Jeremy Oliver, and Dave Los (Inter-states) promote the use of detailed coordination drawings in 3D CAD. They note that design-build places a premium on planning and collaboration, but to date practitioners are not making full use of software currently available. Our four authors emphasize tangible benefits from using detailed coordinated strategies, including gains in quality, safety, productivity, and speed of delivery.
Larry Flynn (American Institute of Steel Construction) also discusses computer-aided design for the design and construction community. He argues that leading practitioners have little choice but to adopt advances in interoperability and building information modeling if they want to remain competitive.
Other news. Barb Jackson reminds us in First Principles that design-build is not just a subtle fine-tuning of traditional delivery approaches. She emphasizes that design-build is an entirely new way of thinking that challenges us to re-examine traditional design and construction strategies in many different ways. Dr. Jackson’s column is drawn from Principles of Design-Build Project Delivery, one of the key courses in DBIA’s “Educational Tour.”
In The Ethics Advisor this month, Bill Quatman asks us to consider some of the implications of copying and re-using proposals/designs without permission or without compensation. What rights should an owner receive having paid a stipend to an unsuccessful bidder? How can we encourage innovation and protect the value of intellectual property?
Nancy Smith and Brian Papernik tackle the issue of liability in this month’s Legal Briefs. They review some recent case law that suggest opportunities for design-builders to claim that owners may retain some liability that result from conflicts or ambiguities in contract and procurement documents.
Next issue. Next month we will look at design-build in the public sector, exploring emerging best practices. While the “rules of the game” are often quite different from the private sector, there are significant lessons learned with applicability to a broad variety of venues.
Good reading to you!
Richard A. Belle
Vice President
Public Affairs/Information
Design-Build DATELINE Editor