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Design Build, Part 1
It's not often you get 50 topnotch design/build remodelers in
one room. And it's even less often that they have agreed to open
sharing
of their hard-won innovations. But that was precisely the outcome
of a recent meeting in which I participated. I've always been a
great booster of the design/build operating system and it was exciting
to hear how it is continuing to evolve. Here are my observations
from that meeting.
As folks talked it soon became clear that there really are two
types of businesses where a client can get both design and construction
services. For ease of identification we were soon using the terms
design/build vs build/design. Your company could choose either
path
and still be highly profitable, small or large in volume and
very successful.
The decision seemed to be related to the owner's area of interest.
The two terms refer to the emphasis the company puts on design
-
or to phrase it another way - how they see design in relationship
to construction. It turns out (as it does in so many things in
life)
that there isn't just one way - there are at least two.
If you are a build/design company, the emphasis is on build and design is seen as a quick and necessary adjunct. Less time is spent in design, client options are more limited and there is often less concern whether design makes a profit or just pays its own way. But the design/build company tends to revel in design seeing it as half the service and often aiming to make money on the design side. Clients are given many more options, and much more time to get exactly the design they want and need.
Most of the remodelers at the meeting seemed to fall neatly in one or the other of the camps. But a few seemed to be able to do either if they knew which would work best with the client. That would seem to be the very best approach to the market. Otherwise, you would be turning off one or the other client and your services would not fit their priorities. Or you could have two different tracks and fee structures depending on how the client wanted to handle design.
This discussion unearthed another key nugget -- in build/design, the budget is king. In design/build the scope is king. I've got to admit I've always preached the budget route, but now I'm changing my tune. It wouldn't be too much to ask a client how important the design is to them? And in some subtle and magical way to ask how important is the budget? I would guess that a lot of this psyching out of the client's priorities could be subliminal.
Another area that is impacted by the company's light or heavy emphasis on design is whether design should be a profit center. The July 2002 Remodeling carried a discussion of this profit issue on page 88. The design/build company is spending more time, more staff, more money and more office space in design and is more likely to charge more for design and to want to make money on this key are of the business. The build/design remodeler may be less concerned that design make money - breaking even may be just fine for the company.
As companies try to tame this double service animal, they begin to define and systematize two or three handoffs rather than just the one handoff from sales to production. If there is both a salesperson and a designer on the project, there needs to be a regimented handoff that specifies who does what and what must be in the package that goes to design. If the company is big enough to have a third person work on the design project - an estimator - there may be a systematized set of information for what is presented to the estimator and when. Total Quality Management (TQM) always stresses information transfer from one person to another as an area fraught with error if not well managed.
It's fun and inspirational to see how this successful operating system evolves. Next month I'll bring you some more hot news on what's happening to design/build across the land.
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Remodelers Advantage Inc.
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Laurel, MD 20707
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