Early Construction Input. One of the primary benefits of design/build contracting is the close coordination of the design and construction processes. Industry research has identified that early construction input into the planning and early design development can reduce overall construction costs by as much as 20%. The magnitude of this benefit is due to the ability of construction contractor perspectives, means and methods to be fully considered during design development and final design. For a traditional D/B/B contracting method, inclusion of consultants with actual construction experience on the project planning and design team can achieve many of these significant benefits for project owners.

Reasonable allocation of risk among project participants is a common element of successful project outcomes. Owners who insist on inappropriate allocations of risk do not provide an environment conducive to teamwork and collaboration necessary to improve likelihood of successful project outcomes. Risk allocation provisions should address change management, risk of changing and unforeseen conditions, and safety and liability issues.

Teaming and Partnering. Establishing a teaming and partnering environment with project participants is a critical first step for implementing design/build techniques. This technique extends the construction phase partnering into earlier phases of the construction project. Successful teaming and partnering requires involvement of all project participants and identification of mutual goals and benefits of all participants. Not all project participants can be expected to have the experiences, skills and motivation to successfully implement teaming and partnering during a construction project. CII's Dispute Potential Index can be used to evaluate the likelihood of project disputes with the specific project participants.

Improved Project Team Communication. The most critical factor indicating likelihood of successful project results is the ability of the project managers to effectively communicate. Many technical project managers confuse rapid exchange of data with effective communication. Poor communication and misunderstandings among project members are some of the most common reasons for project performance problems, disputes and claims.

Contract management and project management processes that include standardized processes, documents and training are an effective foundation on which to develop effective team communications.

Selection of project managers for their superior communication skills and team-building skills is one of the most effective methods to increase the likelihood of excellent project results. Training to improve communications and other team-building skills of existing staff can also be instituted, but has limited capability to provide rapid improvement to a project team. A third method of improving project team communication and teamwork is implementation of a series of tools, forms and protocols that will enhance communication and teamwork behaviors, supplementing the existing skills of the project team. The success of the design/build process is due in part to the development of communication and team-building programs.

Dispute Avoidance and Early Resolution. Construction projects involve substantial amounts of information, which provide significant potential for misunderstandings, disagreements and disputes. Successful design/build projects generally have developed an informal or formal dispute avoidance or early resolution process. These programs often include formal methods for quickly escalating disagreements to higher authority levels, to accelerate final resolution without impairment of relationships that are critical to successful project results. Project neutrals or dispute review boards are other techniques that can be used to secure the benefits available from effective dispute management.

Lessons Learned
Design/build contracting includes a number of contract management and project management techniques that are often the focus of successful design/build projects. Many substantial design/build project failures involve failure of the design/build team, often including the owner, to successfully implement the contract management and project management techniques essential for project success. Form of contract is often not as important as the effectiveness of the implementation of the contract management and project management techniques required for successful project performance.

Marketing Opportunities
Project owners, design professionals and constructors who can successfully implement design/build contract management and project management techniques into both design/build and D/B/B contracting stand to benefit from marketing advantages as owners realize the benefits from design/build techniques. A significant marketing opportunity exists for differentiating a firm's practices from its competition.

Conclusion
Design/build techniques can be applied in a wide variety of contracting methods to achieve many of the substantial benefits of the design/build contract delivery system, even when design/build contracting cannot be used.

Owners can be expected to increasingly seek the financial and project performance benefits available from either the direct use of design/build contracting or the implementation of design/build techniques into other contracting methods. Design professionals who can be instrumental in guiding their clients to achieving many design/build benefits through the use of design/build techniques stand to gain market share as clients include these factors in their selection criteria.

Successful implementation of design/build techniques can also be expected to reduce disputes, claims and ultimately, insurance premiums.