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The Design/Bid Approach
Before there was Design/Build and
our special RC Design/Build and RC
Hybrid Design/Build approaches to remodeling,
there was design/bid. With this approach, a homeowner hires
an architect and develops the project plans
until the homeowner is pleased with them and then gets bids for
construction from building firms. The architect, if asked, generally
tries to design the project in such a way that they think the
project can be built within the client's desired budget range.
However, there are two problems with this.
First, architects are
generally not as aware of construction costs as builders are.
An architect may, in good faith, design
what he or she thinks can be built within your budget, but
you won't know for sure until you put the plans out to
bid. In our
experience and that of many quality remodelers, architects
often underestimate true construction costs.
Secondly, most residential architects don't
prepare bid plans in enough detail that the remodelers bidding
on the project
can or will in fact bid on the same project. Within what
is not specified
in most bid plans is a margin for interpretation that can
affect even honest estimates by thousands to tens of thousands
of
dollars or more. Knowing that selection of the remodeler
is generally
based on price in a bidding situation, there is pressure
on the remodeler to interpret the plans to be built as cheaply
as possible,
which may not allow them to provide the high-quality materials,
workmanship, and project management that you expect. Unless
your architect has specified every last detail and you are
bidding
the project to equally reputable and quality-oriented remodelers,
using price as the determining factor can lead to unintended
and unpleasant consequences. For more information on this,
read our article Priced
for Problems.
Using our RC Hybrid Design/Build
approach, we will be involved in your project from the start
and you can eliminate most of the above problems.
However, using the design/bid approach can also cause other
problems. Should there be an issue about the interpretation
of the plans
or incomplete communication, the builder might follow the
plans as they legitimately understand them. Suddenly, your
architect
and builder are pointing fingers at each other and you
are in the middle and will likely end up paying one of
them extra
to
fix the problem.
Our RC Design/Build and
RC Hybrid Design/Build approaches help eliminate the potential
for these
problems,
because as part of the
development team
working with you and your architect we are more involved
with the planning
and so we are more likely to understand what you and
your architect have in mind.
For more information about how we can help you with your project, please contact us today.
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