Design-Build

In an effort to accelerate the design and construction schedule, to reduce costs, and to partner the Engineer and the Contractor into a single contractual relationship with the Owner, the Design-Build procurement process has been defined. This process is common in private industry and has begun to take notice in the public sector.

In many cases, the Owner engages a design consultant to prepare a thirty-percent design completion package for use in the Design-Build qualification and bid process. The team selected is to complete design and construct the project, which can be overlapping in their performance. The Engineer and Contractor work as a team to deliver the project as efficiently as possible because their collective fee is predetermined. In this contractual format, the Owner avoids the position of reconciling differences between the Engineer and the Contractor.

PATE has been involved in contracts using variations of the Design-Build procurement process. The Kingwood College Fine Arts Center of the North Harris Montgomery College System was designed and constructed using a "Contractor-at-Risk" method, and the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority Wastewater Collection and Treatment Improvements in Bangkok, Thailand was a Design-Build team including the Engineer and the Contractor.

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