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What Is a Design Build Approach?

Tony DiTucci

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Leveraging over 20 years of experience in construction management, Tony DiTucci is a vice president at DGA Builders, LLC, in Pittsford, New York. At the construction management firm, Tony DiTucci is involved with leadership and oversight of multifamily and senior housing projects. DGA Builders, LLC, offers a full range of construction services including preconstruction consulting, construction management, general contracting, and design build.

Design build construction is a project delivery system that has emerged as the most popular method for construction in the United States. Instead of requiring an owner to contract with an architect, designers, and contractors separately, a design build arrangement brings the entire project under a single unified contract.
With a traditional arrangement, an owner contracts with designers and contractors under two or more individual contracts. Sometimes, the relationship between the entities can become adversarial, putting the owner in the middle of disputes related to issues such as responsibility, budget changes, and scheduling delays.
A design build approach offers clients a way to avoid potential disputes between designers and contractors by uniting them under one contract. In this arrangement, designers and contractors have an established relationship and work together from the earliest stages of a project. Therefore, costs, scheduling, and design changes can be managed more effectively. With a committed relationship in place, the entire design and construction process is integrated in a collaborative, efficient manner which ultimately saves the owner time and money.