GENERAL CONTRACTING/CM @RISK/DESIGN-ASSIST

Current Builders (CB) is committed to quality construction, performed within budget and on or ahead of schedule.

Traditional Design-Bid-Build

The traditional design-bid-build system remains the most popular delivery method by owners for construction projects because the system offers the advantage of being widely applicable, well understood, and with well established and clearly defined roles for the parties involved. However, many construction owners have experienced a variety of frustrations using this system, leading to the development of other methods. Among the chief disadvantages of the traditional system are:

• The process is time consuming since all design work must be completed prior to solicitation of the construction contract.
• The designer may have limited ability to assess scheduling and cost ramifications as the design is developed.
• The traditional approach tends to promote more adversarial relationships.
• The contractor pursues a least-cost approach to bidding the project, requiring increased oversight and quality review by the owner.
• The absence of a contractor's input into the project design will limit the effectiveness and constructability of the design and its final costs.

We encourage our clients/owners to consider a best value contract, not necessarily the lowest initial cost. Through a careful negotiation or contractor evaluation, the owner can maintain the maximum amount of control over the resulting construction portion of the project and maintain cost control.

Two alternative methods include:

Design-Assist/Construction Management At-Risk

Many of our clients prefer early contractor/subcontractor involvement through either a Construction Management at Risk or Design-Assist, both with a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP).
The advantages to these delivery methods include:

• The opportunity to begin construction prior to completion of the design with earlier GMP.
• Collaboration between the owner and contractor to select subcontractors on a best value basis.
• Minimize exposure to contractor claims over design and constructability issues.
• Early team building between stakeholders strengthens relationships.
• Allows early Building Information Modeling to take place enhancing the constructability of the project and advancing coordination issues, thus reducing cost and time.