As owners and developers of major capital projects keep seeing more construction delays and ever-escalating costs, they have been searching for solutions to control both. The delivery method of construction seems to be a major focus for them to solve delays and cost overruns. In the effort to streamline processes and cut costs, we have seen a plethora of new delivery methods in construction recently.
The most notable was the departure from traditional Design-Bid-Build to the Design-Build method. The Design-Build method was to allow construction to proceed while drawings were being worked out. In addition, Design-Build was to create the “team” approach with the general contractor leading the way to speed construction, lower costs and limit risks. It works pretty well in Europe. But the United States is not Europe and they do not have an attorney at every street corner. The result: costs just keep escalating.