Design and Build Firms in Sacramento approach project planning
Design and Build firms in Sacramento approach project planning differently. They offer a full range of services that can take your design from initial concept through construction in a single contract with a single point of contact. The result is greater collaboration and innovation, a faster schedule, and a reduced budget.
Design and Build Firm in Sacramento Project planning begins in the concept stage with the client determining their desires for the project, such as how they want to live or how they intend the space to be used. The designer will then create a concept design that is both cost effective and feasible for construction. A detailed product selection and estimate will also be developed during this phase. Changes during the construction phase are costly, so getting these details ironed out early is essential to keeping costs low.
Once the design is finalized, the contractor will prepare a cost proposal to construct the project based on the design specifications. The design build team competes with other design-build teams for the contract based on the quality of their proposal and the lowest cost. This method is favored by local governments due to its simplicity and reduced administrative burden for the agency.
How do Design and Build Firms in Sacramento approach project planning?
The downside to this process is that the criteria architect (the designer who establishes the owner’s project requirements) is often not allowed to participate as part of the design build team. This can lead to the loss of the expertise, familiarity and commitment to the project that the criteria architect has spent hundreds of hours developing with project stakeholders. The end result can be a project that has been designed to the client’s exact requirements, but built to a less than ideal cost.
While the design-build procurement process has worked well for private projects, it’s been less successful on public projects. To date, six local agencies in California—Alameda, Solano, and Sacramento counties, as well as the cities of Davis, West Sacramento and Woodland—have been granted the authority to use design-build for constructing capital outlay projects. Seven of these entities have been required to report on their experiences with the process to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Many of the county officials we spoke with expressed a desire to introduce some objective criteria in awarding design-build contracts for large projects. This could be as simple as requiring a minimum bid. Others noted that a stipend, paid to proposers to defray the expense of preparing their proposals, may be necessary to attract the highest caliber design-build teams.
A Sacramento design build firm that specializes in luxury home remodeling and new construction works closely with you, your architects and engineers to ensure that all aspects of the project are designed to your exact needs. This process saves time and money, as it prevents the extra work that comes from a lack of communication among team members and can even lead to unforeseen expenses. It also means that you can avoid the stress of changing your mind or adding features during the construction phase, which is costly and can delay completion.
