Design & Build is our daily bread in business. But what does it actually mean? Design & Build is an innovative concept in the construction industry. Here, design and construction services are responsibly handled by a single company from the first meeting to the turnkey handover of a building project. Unlike ‘design-bid-build’, holistic design & build minimizes risks for the project owner and usually shortens the delivery schedule by telescoping the design and construction phases of a project.
Leadership is not execution. This classic, traditional motto from the world of management also applies to the construction industry. Here, it is translated as ‘planning and execution’ and describes the hierarchical setting of viewing conception and overall project management separately from operational implementation. As a result, large-scale projects and their inadequate execution are damaging Germany’s international reputation. Construction projects deviate significantly from planned figures, run out of time and are characterized by poor execution.
What is design & build?
Our CEO Michael Betz knows how to counter these structural deficits. Early on, real General Contracting GmbH began acquiring construction projects based on the Design & Build concept. The approach originates from the Anglo-Saxon world and describes the practice of handling construction services from planning to turnkey handover with a single contractor. In principle, it is difficult to implement alternative contracting models in Germany, emphasizes Michael Betz, our CEO. The upheaval in the German construction industry and many massively loss-making and failed projects are now opening the doors for Design & Build, says Betz.
Design & Build not only shifts project development and end-to-end responsibility to one contractor. Design & Build Companies’ ever-growing experience in this way benefits projects, clients and the industry as a whole. The model brings together the usually separate phases of planning and execution of a construction project. In this way, experience with holistic projects, expertise and the detailed knowledge surrounding construction come to bear as early as the planning process. The contractor’s overarching perspective opens up the view for priorities in the planning process, which can thus be synchronized flexibly and effectively. All process phases are the responsibility of the contractor. Well-established teams can thus overcome interdisciplinary hurdles much more easily. Projects are developed responsibly from the first pencil stroke to turnkey handover under the aegis and responsibility of the general contractor.
The demands placed on construction projects are constantly increasing. Buzzwords such as energy-efficient project planning and construction, the integration of digital technologies and the necessary ecological orientation are forcing a high degree of specialization in planning services. However, according to Michael Betz, the benefit arguments for clients go further.
Design & Build: Benefits for clients
Quite apart from the fact that the construction industry would do well to look into innovative concepts such as Design & Build. It is simply the demonstrable economic facts that will bring the process model or the alternative award process more and more into focus in the future. Experience has shown that Design & Build can significantly reduce costs and save around a quarter of the construction time. Involving the construction company at an early stage secures capacities. In addition the interface coordination between planners and construction companies is no longer necessary. Clients benefit from a single point of contact as a communication hub throughout the entire process. Finally, the elimination of frictional losses in knowledge transfer, empirically accurate material estimation and empirically professional cost statements pay for better budget control.
Image author: giggsy25 / 123RF Standard Image
