The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) has released new research findings in the report "Revisiting Project Delivery Performance" that shows that America's design-build (DB) projects continue to deliver faster, and with greater reliability in cost and schedule performance, than other delivery methods. It's been 20 years since the seminal CII/Penn State research showed that DB projects consistently delivered projects more efficiently. Over the decades, even as projects have evolved in complexity through many diverse economic cycles, DB continues to provide improved value to communities.
According to Lisa Washington CAE, CEO/executive director of DBIA, "As our nation continues to struggle with the unmet needs of crumbling infrastructure and budgets stretched thin, it's no surprise that most states have embraced design-build as a better way to deliver projects vital to our economic growth. Whether it's a billion-dollar airport or small community library, this research confirms design-build continues to deliver innovative projects that save time and money. Design-build is clearly a better way to build."
Research highlight include:
Project Cost: On average, projects using DB cost 1.9% less per square foot when compared to construction manager at risk (CMR) and 0.3% less when compared to design-bid-build (DBB). DB projects also average 2.4% less cost growth than a comparably scoped project using CMR and 3.8% less cost growth than a project using DBB.
Project Schedule: DB was the best-performing project delivery system in terms of schedule growth, delivery speed, and construction speed. DB projects see 3.9% less schedule growth than CMR and 1.7% less than DBB. They're also 13% faster than CMR during the construction phase and 36% faster than DBB. From design through completion, DB projects are delivered 61% faster than CMR and 102% faster than DBB.
The "Revisiting Project Delivery Performance" research summary is available online.
