Design-Build
Design and construction from one source
One contractor is responsible for design and construction. This allows closely integrated services, fast processes and clear responsibilities. It requires clearly defined owner requirements.
International · USA
Building in the USA.
With clear requirements.
In the USA, a design-build partner often handles design and construction from a single source. That makes it all the more important to agree your requirements clearly. Whatever is left open leaves room for interpretation, including on details that matter to you.
The hurdle
Our solution
Your role as the owner is different from the one in Germany.
Using your project, we show what you need to define and when, and clarify US-specific questions with local experts.
Your team knows what it needs, but it isn’t described in a way a US partner can build on.
Together with your teams in Germany and the USA, we develop the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) and find the right partner for your project in the USA.
The partner is on site, the decisions are made in Germany.
If you wish, we help select the partner, review their design and support the execution. You always know in Germany where your project stands, even from afar.
Is planning and building in the USA comparable to Germany?
In many respects, no. We show you where the differences lie for you as the owner.
How does an industrial or logistics project typically run in the USA?
We explain the path from project definition to execution using your project.
What do we need to define ourselves before approaching a design-build partner?
Your owner’s requirements, the so-called Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR). That is exactly what we develop together with you.
What do you handle from Germany, and what do we need local experts for?
We develop the project definition and requirements with you; local questions are clarified with our partners in the USA.
Current project
New warehouse at an existing production site in Indiana
For a German food manufacturer, in the first project stage we are reviewing an existing concept study, clarifying the interfaces between warehouse and production and developing the owner’s requirements for the US design-build partner.
Senior Architect / Project Manager
Roger Adaime
Leads conceptual design and OPR as project manager on current US projects.
Contract models in the USA
Which model fits your project?
In the US, the contract model defines who designs, who builds and who carries which risk. That makes it decisive for control, cost and schedule.
CM at Risk
Construction Management at Risk
The owner contracts the design separately. A construction manager supports it early on and then takes over construction with responsibility for cost and schedule, often on a GMP basis.
EPCM
Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management
An EPCM partner manages design, procurement and construction. The construction contracts usually sit directly with the owner. This offers high control and flexibility, but requires more of the owner’s own management and risk.
GMP
Guaranteed Maximum Price – pricing model
A contractually agreed price cap, often combined with Design-Build or CM at Risk. Compensation is typically based on actual costs plus a fee, capped at the agreed maximum price.