The Connecticut Building Congress promoted and detailed the importance of using the design-build method of construction in creating the best structure possible, during CBC’s meeting at Central Connecticut State University.
At the conference Tuesday, CBC members concluded design-build saves money on construction, eliminates waste, and often creates a superior product.
In the design-build method of construction, the designer of the building doubles to be the construction manager on the project, where all parties, particularly contractors and subcontractors, are involved with the design from the initial stages. This method helps avoid problems in later stages of the project.
Other construction methods include the lowest bidder model where each phase of the project is advertised and awarded to the lowest bidder, and the construction manager-at-risk where the construction manager handles all phases of the project.
Nationwide, about 50 percent of project use design-build, although that percentage is much lower in Connecticut, said James Fox, president of the New England chapter of Design-Build Institute of America, at the CBC conference.
The low-bidder method still is used widely by the Connecticut state government, although changes are being made to allow design-build in some construction projects, said Allen Herring, chief engineer of the state Department of Construction Services.