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Renew Blog

How to choose your design/build firm for home construction

by Glenn M. Travis, Principal, GMT Home Design

This historic carriage house, once filled with horse stalls, has been restored to a fun eclectic art studio for these homeowners. The historic renovation was completed with our partner Gallagher Remodeling.

 

Design/build approach to home construction aims to fix some of the problems that can arise in the more traditional design-bid-build process. (We dove into some of the differences between the two methods in our last post.)

The main goal of design/build is to not only determine what your finished project will look like, but also improve the quality AND manage the cost at the same time.

That's quite an ambitious goal! And, because "design/build" is a hot term these days, you'll see designers and builders, big and small, all using it to describe their services. So it can be a real challenge for homeowners to figure out which firms are really able to deliver on all three elements of the goal: great design, great construction, and careful cost management.

GMT Home Designs has been using a true design/build approach for many years, working closely with different contracting partners. We are also homeowners ourselves, so we understand first-hand that you want to have the best design possible, but also have to make sure that you get the best bang for your buck.

We built and refined our own design/build process based on this perspective and experience. Here is what you should look for in choosing your design/build firm for your home build or renovation.

Local expertise and excellence in both disciplines — design and build

Well, this goes without saying, right? Actually this is a place where some companies offering "design/build" services fall short. 

Sometimes, for example, a bigger contracting company may offer design/build "all under one roof", and have some design capability on staff, but lack the mix of architectural and design expertise to really nail the design details. This can result in a final result that's functional, but looks underwhelming. Some contractors see the value in design services, but don’t really have qualified designers and architects on staff. Nowadays anyone can call themselves a designer; the question for homeowners to ask is, do they have the necessary education and experience in regards to structure, roof lines, ratios, window placement, the flow of the exterior, and so on. 

If a design/build contractor charges minimal design fees, there's typically a reason (and not a good one). Some of these projects, speaking frankly, result in awful designs.

Conversely, a large design firm might be depending on its local construction partner for the region-specific knowledge that you only gain by working "on the ground" in New England's distinctive cities, towns, and neighborhoods. The homeowner may get a design that looks good on screen, but hits snags in the permitting and construction phase (or, worse, after the project ends and the changing seasons start to reveal problems with the house).

Another shortfall can happen if a design firm and a construction firm join up, but lack experience working together. This can result in communication and process problems, poor budget planning, or event finger-pointing — the sorts of issues that design/build was supposed to help fix in the first place.

What you should be getting in true design/build services is great design expertise working seamlessly with great construction expertise. We work with 15 to 20 contracting partners in different areas of New England who we’ve vetted carefully, so we trust the integrity and quality of their work. 

And we also know that their processes and communication style will mesh with ours, to give our clients the best service possible.

Practical budget visibility and guidance — starting early!

In the old design-bid-build process, homeowners rely on competition between builders to keep construction costs low. Sometimes that works just fine. 

Once in a while, though, it doesn't work, and there's a big unhappy surprise for the homeowners, when they discover that ALL the construction bids are way above the owners' actual budget. Source of problem? The designer or design firm has created schematic drawings without realistic and informed input from a builder.

Budget (and schedule) disconnects like that shouldn't happen in a good design/build process. 

Here's how we avoid them. The process of arriving at a design and a budget is iterative, and the design phase isn't complete until you have arrived at a clear fixed-priced construction agreement. It takes more communication among clients and partners, but that's design/build and it's absolutely worth the effort.

In true design/build fashion, our construction partners provide rough initial input on cost and schedule starting with early designs. Our deliverables to the client for schematic design are not only the design itself (floorplans, elevations and pretty pictures), but also a preliminary budget from our contractor and a schedule as to how long the build will take.

We use the industry's leading design program, Chief Architect, which incorporates real materials lists into the design, so together with the builder we can generate reliable cost estimates.

Once you approve of the schematic design and preliminary budget, our contractor brings in their subcontractors to see your home along with the design, and refine the cost numbers. This way no one is guessing about costs, and the contractor can now nail down a fixed price for your project. Because of this detailed approach, the fixed price will be quite close to the preliminary budget — no big surprises here.

The cost of construction drawings is built into the number from the contractor in the remodeling contract. We align ourselves with like-minded professionals to be able to price your job soup to nuts.

These wonderful clients wanted their dream space which included a dream kitchen and pantry, a 4-season room to enjoy all year round and a mudroom that works efficiently for their family, but is beautiful as well. The entire architecture, build, interior design team, and clients did a fabulous job. The dream kitchen space remodel was completed with our partner Barnes Building and Remodeling.

Designer - builder collaboration throughout the whole process

In design/build we pull in one contractor partner to determine not only what your project will look like, but what it will cost as well. 

We work hand in hand in glove with the construction partner throughout the build process as well to answer any questions that come up in the field. We are available to the homeowner as well throughout the build. We don’t “go away”, even as your project moves into the build phase and the construction team takes the lead.

We care equally about the aesthetics as much as the function of the design. We care about the bottom line investment as well. We don’t want to add a box to someone’s house and call it a day. Happy clients are the only way to build our own business (and my name is on the business)! 

That means staying involved, available, and communicative until your project is truly complete.

But can GMT work in the traditional design-bid-build process?

Of course. The other way we work is in the traditional bid-build method where we provide design services only, and the client takes our plans and gives them to two or three general contractors to get bids on pricing.

We will still pause our work after completing schematic design (floor plans, elevations, pretty pictures) so you can get preliminary numbers from a variety of contractors. Once you approve of the final schematic design we move on to construction drawings. Our construction drawings are fully buildable plans with all the pertinent information required by the building department, code requirements, framing plans, and more. Our team includes a structural engineer who reviews and stamps our final drawings. 

So, as much as possible, we work to incorporate aspects of the collaborative design/build approach into this traditional process.

About the author: GMT Home Designs founder Glenn M. Travis has lived and worked in New England all his life, with 30+ years' experience in architectural design. Learn more about our design/build services.