While the design-build industry has faced some monumental challenges over the last 10 years, it is nonetheless true that our nation, when confronted with projects that absolutely must be designed, engineered and built in a timely manner, while meeting strict budgetary, quality and performance requirements, has consistently embraced integrated design-build project delivery. Consider the following high-profile projects, many undertaken in the midst of crises:
- When the criminal justice system was bursting at the seams, unable to add sufficient bed space to support law enforcement efforts, the Federal Bureau of Prisons chose design-build project delivery.
- When America was rocked by the bombings of our embassies in Kenya and Nigeria, the U.S. State Department decided to rebuild through design-build.
- When the Pentagon renovation project seemed to be on a downward schedule and budgetary spiral, the Secretary of Defense turned to design-build.
- When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was charged with implementing the mega-billion dollar MILCON Program — a triple challenge of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), Global Positioning of Troops and the Army Transformation Program — the Corps went with design-build.
- When the Army National Guard Bureau was charged with the most aggressive nationwide building initiative in the history of the agency, the Bureau selected design-build project delivery.
- When Minneapolis’s I-35W bridge collapsed, design-build proved its worth to the Twin Cities.
- When Hurricane Katrina released a storm surge that breached levees, engulfing communities and wreaking havoc throughout an entire region, the Hurricane Protection Office turned to design-build.
Is it just a coincidence that each and every one of these major high-risk programs generated a collaborative design-build solution? I think not. True, some public owners, including the agency for which I worked, initially attempted a traditional linear design-bid-build approach. Others explored the CM-at-risk model. Most owners were influenced by the professional architectural community, which advised caution when jumping into design-build. Ultimately, trying to improve upon the separate but equal silo method simply didn’t work.
Now our country faces economic hardship that has produced the highest unemployment rate in decades. In an effort to put people to work quickly, while strengthening our nation’s broader infrastructure, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act demands that agencies, including the General Services Administration, build faster without sacrificing quality. What form of project delivery can satisfy these needs? You guessed it — design-build.
Often, it takes bold leadership to veer from the comfortable status quo — even if we are not satisfied with the results generated by the operative mode. People tend to think things will improve if we just work harder. And, only after exhausting many other options, did public agencies try to “work smarter” by embracing a truly alternative project delivery method. As a result, design-build has had the opportunity to prove its worth again and again.
What a difference a decade makes! It is reassuring to observe the rise of design-build as the delivery method of choice for critical infrastructure projects throughout the country — gone are not-so-good old days of let’s try design-build only after exhausting every other option.
Week after week, Americans gather to watch the National Football League prove on the field that the “right team” prevails over individual talent. The design and construction industry has a similar, but too often untapped, capacity to respond dynamically to constantly changing and often less than optimal conditions. We at DBIA have recognized this fact from the founding days of the Institute. And DBIA’s best practices underscore the importance of integrating the entire team (not just a collaborative effort between the A/E firm and the general contractor), an inclusiveness that includes key trade partners, manufacturers, suppliers and, of course, the owner.
We have all embraced new technologies over the past 10 years, especially as they helped us meet the exigencies of the moment. But even as practice has changed, a central DBIA tenet remains the same: The profound belief in the power of a team and a deep recognition that none of us is as smart as ALL of us.