Commentary: The Added Risk Considerations of Design Build Delivery
A recent study by the Federal Highway Administration determined that on average, design-build projects were completed 14% faster than the traditional design-bid-build projects. Design-build, however, exposes contractors to risks they don’t have under traditional delivery methods.
Since under design-build, the contractor is responsible for design, it is also responsible for damages and costs arising out of inaccurate or flawed design documents. Although a majority of the risk can be transferred contractually to the design professional subconsultant, the contractor still retains additional exposure.