There are two main approaches to hiring professionals for a home remodeling project. Under the traditional model, you hire a designer, then get bids from general contractors, and then hire one of those contractors to do the construction work.
Despite being frequently used, that approach is prone to all types of problems, including miscommunication, delays, and inflated costs. That’s why another approach – known as the design-build model – usually offers a better outcome and experience for homeowners.
Design-build contractors provide full-service home remodeling through an integrated project delivery approach. They handle the design services and the construction, all under one roof. With an integrated team, design-build firms thrive on coordination and collaboration.
In this post, I’ll explain how design-build firms work and go over the four key benefits that you can expect from hiring a design-build contractor instead of a general contractor.
Under the design-build model, the same company provides both the design and construction services required to complete your project. All of the work is done under one contract and one budget.
The best design-build firms have an in-house designer who creates the plans for your remodel. The firm will also have construction administration experts who will manage all of the work on-site. In addition, the design-build firm has project managers who keep everyone in the loop so that the project stays on track.
The design-build approach is distinct from the traditional model, which is often called design-bid-build. The key difference is that design-build contractors handle all aspects of the work. With the design-bid-build approach, different people independently handle the design phase and the construction phase.
For example, with the traditional model, you start by searching for a design firm, architect, or interior designer to create the project design. Once the design is complete, you have to shop around for a general contractor to implement the project.
In my experience, having the design work siloed away from the construction is the source of most headaches in home remodeling. In spite of it being the traditional approach, design-bid-build often leads to inefficiency, delays, and escalating costs.
As a remodeling professional dedicated to the design-build process, I’ve seen firsthand how it can benefit homeowners. In the following sections, I’ll go over the four key advantages that come from hiring a design builder.
When you know you’ll be working with the same team from day one until the project’s finished, there’s a greater commitment to developing a strong relationship founded on communication and collaboration.
A design-build firm wants to get a deep understanding of your goals. After meeting with you, their designer starts with an initial concept and then frequently follows up and adapts the design so that it accounts for your needs and personal sense of style.
This is important for two reasons. First, it gives you a stronger voice in the design phase, which helps ensure that the project aligns with your vision. Second, it avoids fanciful and unrealistic design work that’s just intended to get your stamp of approval.
If you hire an independent designer or architect, they aren’t involved in seeing your project through to the finish. As a result, they may be inclined to make design choices that look great on paper but are impractical, costly, and likely to generate pushback from a general contractor.
For a design-build firm, the design and construction teams work hand-in-hand, so there’s zero benefit to promising you the moon. In these ways, the design-build approach uses collaboration to customize your design while ensuring that it’s primed for success when construction starts.
The design-build approach doesn’t just enhance collaboration between homeowners and designers. It also facilitates coordination within the design-build firm itself, making every step of the project more efficient.
At any point during the process, different members of a design-build team can consult each other and coordinate their efforts. When the final design is done, the construction team knows it’s truly ready. In fact, they’ve probably already contributed insights and ideas during the design phase.
Internal coordination also makes scheduling easier, paving the way for a project to finish on time. With the design-bid-build model, you may encounter delays when finding a general contractor or just getting on their schedule. That’s not a problem with design-build firms, whose streamlined approach enables them to coordinate calendars so that there’s a seamless transition from design to construction.
If you hire a designer and general contractor who work independently, what happens if it turns out that there are potential design errors that only become apparent once the construction phase has started? Who is responsible? And who do you call to sort things out? Ultimately, many homeowners end up feeling left in the lurch, not knowing who is responsible or how much it’s going to cost to make things right.
Design-build firms avoid this problem by having project managers who serve as a single point of contact. Everyone is rowing in the same direction, so you don’t have separate people trying to pass the buck. A dedicated project manager gives you more control and more transparency, ensuring greater accountability and convenience throughout the process.
Most design-build contractors work with a fixed-price contract, which means that what you see in the proposal is what you actually pay when the work is done, ensuring effective budget management. The design-build firm bears the risk of cost overruns, not the homeowner.
That’s a stark contrast with the traditional model. Among traditional general contractors, it’s a well-kept secret that the initial proposal’s budget is rarely in line with the final cost of the project. Contractors often try to win projects by submitting the lowest price in competitive bidding, even if they know that there’s a good chance the budget will rise as the work unfolds.
In saying this, I don’t mean to paint general contractors as nefarious. In many ways, cost overages are simply a product of the design-bid-build model. Designers and architects often give homeowners their own estimate of what their plans will cost to implement, but they don’t speak on behalf of the general contractors who actually submit bids. When bids come in higher than anticipated, homeowners are forced to decide between revamping their design or accepting a higher budget.
With a design-build firm, a fixed-price contract is a form of protection against cost inflation. Unexpected costs are borne by the firm, which actually serves as an incentive for design-build contractors to be more precise and accurate in their initial proposals.
A well-executed remodel can spark the feeling of walking into a new house replete with all the functionality and style that you and your family need.
At Compelling Homes, we specialize in custom home remodels, leveraging the design-build process to forge deep relationships with our clients. We don’t do commercial construction; instead, we focus exclusively on residential projects, channeling all of our efforts into being the best and most dependable home design-builders in the greater Des Moines region.
If you’re planning a remodel and want to find out how a design-build firm can help, check out our portfolio and give us a call to learn more.