Design-Build

Design-build is a delivery method, not a building type. Instead of designing a project, bidding it, and then building it, the owner contracts a single entity to carry both. It can compress a schedule considerably and it removes the finger-pointing between designer and builder. It also removes the natural check that a separate designer provides, which is exactly why owners bring in their own representation.

HMCM works on your side of that arrangement. We help evaluate whether design-build is the right method for the project at all, review the proposal for what is actually included at the stated price, and make sure the design criteria are specific enough that the delivered building is the building you described. Vague criteria are where design-build budgets quietly become the design-builder's budget rather than yours.

During delivery, the job is to keep scope, cost, and schedule visible. That means tracking design decisions against the criteria and the budget as they are made, reading the cost model as the design develops rather than at the end, and confirming that permitting and inspections are tracking with a design that is still moving. When the owner is not a construction company, this is the difference between a fixed price and a fixed building.

We do not run an architecture studio and we do not compete with your design-builder. We represent the owner while design and construction move together. Related pathways: Concept to Completion Services for a traditional end-to-end engagement, and permitting, which usually sits on the critical path either way.