A 1998 survey of 351 design build projects by Pennsylvania State University found that on average, projects delivered using the Design Build system took 33,5% less time to deliver and had a unit cost 6,1% less than similar projects delivered under design-bid-build systems.

In the Design Build system, a client contracts with a single Design Build contractor, the system integrator, to provide both design and construction services.

For many years, the construction industry stood out as the only engineering-based discipline where the design phase was separated from the build phase.

“Whether constructing cars or jets, in all other cases the company that designed the model also built it,” says Brian Bruce.

As long ago as 1976, after meeting Stanford University Professor Clarke Ogilsby at a construction management programme, Brian realised that as long as the two were separate in construction, value would be destroyed.

An artist's impression of the C1 commercial building in Cape Town,
a project in which Murray & Roberts has successfully applied Design Build.

“The feedback loop gets broken. In vehicle design there are continuous design improvements to a model derived from this feedback loop. It doesn’t happen to the same degree in construction.”

Today’s buildings are not the brick-and-mortar structures of the past. They are a collection of highly sophisticated, customised fabrications of mass-produced products. As a result, much of the detailed knowledge of construction cost and technology now resides with manufacturers, suppliers and specialty contractors. Architects and engineers, once the experts on construction technology, often function as integration managers.

The Design Build delivery method makes it possible, and imperative, for the system integrators to tap into the knowledge and experience – the intellectual capital – of the dozens of sub-contractors and materials suppliers who are involved in most significant construction projects. Accessing this knowledge base is a key advantage of the Design Build strategy.

“Design Build is a single point of responsibility for a client around the economic use of the final product. It looks at the choice of materials, the ergonomics and cost-effectiveness of the design for its ultimate use. The final product must meet the requirements of the market place – this puts the feedback loop back in place,” explains Brian.

The absence of a feedback loop makes everything more expensive in construction because continuous improvement is not integrated into the process.

“It is a myth that construction projects are once-only events. Each project contains a platform of similar fundamental structure, and only through integration management can improvements to this platform be carried forward to the next project, just the same as refinements are continually made to product manufacture,” he says.

Implementation of the Mozal aluminium smelters is a Murray & Roberts example of the Design Build concept in practice. The design took into account the circumstances of Africa and a world class facility was delivered.

There remain obstacles because Design Build does not permit half-measures. “We have recent experiences where design responsibility was subcontracted with inadequate management, resulting in poor integration and therefore, value destruction,” says Brian.

“Design Build is the fundamental building block for our future aspiration.  We are challenged to ensure that all projects and operations have adequate capacity to engage the increased risk that arises from Design Build responsibility. This will be the case even where we are contracted to build to the design of others and that design proves less than adequate,” he concludes.
Eamonn Ryan.