Employing a Design-Build Team to Build Your New Office

Traditionally, armed with a preliminary equipment plan, a small business professional will approach several general contractors for a fee and schedule proposal. The contractor applies his past experiences to the drawings to flesh out the actual scope of work from which to develop an estimate.

The professional and the general contractor are already at a disadvantage. The preliminary equipment layout or technical drawings that the professional is working from are, at best, a general guide to lay out walls and cabinets so the equipment ordered will fit. These drawings will not get a permit for your tradesmen, nor will they ensure that all of the trades are coordinated properly so the equipment will be easy to hook up once installed. For that, you, the professional, are relying on the general contractor’s ability to coordinate (wing it) in the field. Unfortunately, field coordination usually leads to confusion and confusion always leads to delays and cost overruns.

With a design-build team, however, confidence that your project is in the hands of professionals begins at the first stage. Design-build firms are construction management specialists and an integral part of the design team.  That means construction time and expense implications are assessed and addressed early in the process. The design-build team works together to decide the most cost-effective materials and methods of delivery before the design is finalized. This enables the team to provide accurate scheduling and costs. And, because the same group is responsible for drawings and functional performance (construction), the possibility of expensive surprises in the construction phase are virtually eliminated.

New office construction is one of the greatest areas of expense for most businesses; so it’s imperative to reduce the margin for error in this process. The greatest advantage of the design-build team approach is the potential for reducing this risk in your new office development. Single-source responsibility for quality, cost and schedule adherence clearly makes this the superior delivery mechanism for your new office. Because the design build team is accountable for design, construction and installation, you can enjoy the certainty of a well-executed plan from your committed design build team.

The integrated nature of the design-build team approach also eliminates project delay due to miscommunication between the parties on project in the areas of scope and responsibility. Bidding periods and redesign time are eliminated. Materials and equipment procurement and construction work can begin earlier (in some cases, before the construction documents are fully completed). Since total design construction time is reduced, you enjoy less stress and are in your new office doing business sooner.

The design-build team approach ensures high quality in your finished office because the team is contractually responsible to you from design through complete build-out and into operation. All too often, the professional plays the middleman distributing the work of design, construction and installation to various parties and becoming experienced on the fly. This is not necessary. Just as expanding your business to add a complete range of services allows you to create coordinated services with your clients , a design-build team does the same for you by coordinating office design, construction management and equipment installation to move you into your office faster and create a quicker revenue flow.

The Sykes Team