Construction Best Practices & Planning

What Makes a Great Design-Builder?

Explore what makes a great design-builder and why the design-build method is becoming the preferred construction delivery system across the U.S.

Overhead view of a commercial jobsite under construction with heavy equipment and vehicles, titled 'What Makes a Great Design-Builder?'Overhead view of a commercial jobsite under construction with heavy equipment and vehicles, titled 'What Makes a Great Design-Builder?'

What Makes a Great Design-Builder?

Design-build is a construction delivery system that gives facility owners a singular representative who oversees the entirety of applied design and construction services. In other words, one entity holds responsibility for all pre-construction, construction, and post-construction contractual agreements. This entity is responsible for managing all aspects of a specific project from managing subcontractors to equipment providers. Design-build projects are becoming the largest favored construction method in America due to the ease and lack of responsibility needed from a project facility owner.

When it comes to choosing the right design-builder to take on a project, there are 5 things to keep in mind that make for great design-builder.

Accountability

Since there will be one entity, the design-builder, who is responsible for the entirety of project management, it is important to hire a company that is accountable. A great design-builder is one who can stand behind their work and satisfy the facility owner.

Trust & Honesty

The best partnerships form from the sharing of information that needs to be heard, not information that wants to be heard. As a design-build firm will be worked with from start to finish, it is vital to ensure that they can be trusted. A great design-builder is one that can provide clear communication, an honest budget from early on, and consistent agreements throughout the project.

Time & Cost Savings

One of the desired payoffs of choosing a design-build construction management process is the savings in time and money. A great design-builder is one who does not stop until they meet the owner’s goals and restraints and does so in a timely and appropriate manner.

Expertise

As with any construction project, it is important to hire a company who is the expert at what they do. A great design-builder is one who shows their expertise through considerate planning measures and an extensive understanding of pricing, sequencing, and how facilities come together.

Owner Involvement & Collaboration

When it comes to a large-scale construction project, there must be a great level of collaboration between a design-build firm and the facility owner. A great design-builder is one who encourages owner involvement throughout the construction process to allow for mutual idea generation and constant project awareness.

At Jewett, we have built our core values around our commitment and ability to perform as a trusted design-build contractor.

Trust, passion, respect, and shared success are at the crux of how we operate as a company and is experienced throughout the design-build project lifecycle. Our emphasis on collaboration, transparency, and creative thinking creates a system where the owner’s project goals are at the forefront of every decision made.

Our ability to adapt our design-build process to a wide range of project types and sizes provides our owners a tailored approach to their respective project. Jewett’s commitment to listen, plan, and execute creates an intimate dynamic with our owners and construction partners allowing us all to work in an expedited fashion while still maintaining the level of quality and cost avoidance the specific project requires. Jewett’s design-build delivery provides a single source responsibility throughout the entire design, preconstruction, construction, and post-construction phases of a project.

The Jewett approach to design-build is best defined by three simple words: Single Source. Trusted.

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