Choosing a Project Delivery Method for Your Build

Ask a hotel owner with a brand deadline whether they care about the contract structure and you will get a blank look. They care about the rooms going back into service on the date. But the contract decides when the builder gets involved, who pays for surprises, and how much of the coordination lands on the owner's desk, and all three of those decide the date.

Three questions the contract answers

When does the builder see the drawings: after they are finished, or while they are being made? Who carries the risk when the drawings and the field disagree? And how many contracts does the owner hold and referee? Every delivery method is a different set of answers.

Builder hired after design is complete

This is the traditional route, often called design-bid-build. The architect finishes the set, several contractors price it, and the owner picks one, usually by price. The upside is a complete set and a clear comparison. The downside is time, since nothing gets priced until design is done, and risk, since nobody who builds for a living looked at the drawings before they were locked. Gaps get discovered by a crew, and each one becomes a change.

Builder hired during design

Two arrangements bring the builder in early. Under construction manager at risk, the owner keeps a separate contract with the architect and hires the builder during design to price it as it develops, flag what will not work in the field, and then build it, usually under a cost cap. Under design-build, the owner holds a single contract and the builder carries the architect, which puts one party on the hook for the whole result. Both cut months from the calendar because ordering, permitting and early site work can start before the last sheet is drawn. Both depend heavily on who the builder is, since there is no low bid to hide behind. Our pre-construction and design coordination services exist for exactly this stage.

The cost cap

A guaranteed maximum price is a ceiling agreed before construction starts, with the books open underneath it. If the job comes in below the cap, the savings go back to the owner or are shared as the contract says. If it goes over for reasons inside the builder's control, the builder absorbs it. A GMP pairs naturally with the early-involvement methods, because a builder can only cap a price on drawings it helped shape.

Renovations, PIPs and buildings that stay open

Occupied work rewards early involvement more than any other kind. Phasing floors, night hours, protecting guests and sequencing FF&E deliveries are builder decisions that belong in the drawings, not discovered after them. A brand PIP with a fixed deadline is a poor fit for a method that cannot start pricing until design is finished.

Choosing for a date

If you need a public, apples-to-apples bid and have time to spare, hire after design. If the opening date is fixed, the site is complicated or the building stays open, bring the builder in during design and cap the price. Whichever you choose, ask who will be on site each day and who signs the changes.

On our jobs that person is a principal of the company, under any of these contracts. Send the drawings at whatever stage they are in and we will tell you which structure gets you to opening day.