Enhancing Collaboration and Surpassing Traditional Design-Build Methods with Progressive Design-Build

Earn: 1 PDH; 1 AIA LU/Elective; 0.1 IACET CEU

The traditional Design-Build project delivery method gave rise to significant problems on large projects – particularly heavy civil/infrastructure projects – where the design-builder was required to provide a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) prior to the construction documents being past 30% completion. On many of these projects, that GMP was provided prior to a clearly defined scope or objectives being developed.

Predictably, many of those GMPs ended up being dramatically exceeded, with the design-builder often claiming that the cost overruns were attributable to negligent design. Eventually, the situation became chronic, and the impact of claims against design professionals caused the Project-Specific Professional Liability market to dramatically harden and shrink. The Surety market and bonding capacity was also impacted.

Progressive Design-Build (PDB) provides a much more collaborative delivery method involving the owner, design-builder and the design team itself working together in phases to come to agreement on a final budget, only after the construction documents are at or beyond 60% and the scope and objectives are better defined.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify the challenges and concerns with conventional Design-Build and how PDB may address them.
2. Assess the challenges and concerns in the implementation of PDB.
3. Explain how PDB improves the availability and capacity of surety and project-specific professional liability insurance on infrastructure projects.
4. Determine if PDB presents potential benefits on private projects and vertical construction, or if its utilization is limited primarily to heavy civil, horizontal projects.

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