Design/build: Commercial versus residential use

It's an apples-to-oranges scenario

By Ellen Hickok-Wall
Daily Reporter Staff

Design/build has its place in the residential construction industry, but the dynamics are not the same as in commercial work, according to Matt Moroney, executive director of the Metropolitan Builders Association.

While design/build is forging new paths in commercial construction, a simpler, more compact form of the project delivery system is commonly used in residential construction, he said.

"Most of our members design their own buildings or will work with an individual customer and design it and then build it," Moroney said. "That's usually part of the contract."

Rick Andritsch, director of business development for general contractor Voss Jorgensen Schueler, said VJS uses design/build frequently in commercial projects, but seldom for residential.

"Typically in residential projects that are high end, the owners are hiring an architect that has everything they want," he said. "Then we would work with that owner."

There would be two separate contracts, he said, and no bidding process involved.

Aside from high-end houses, Christine Schwanke, a public relations spokeswoman with Wisconsin Builders Association, said the majority of houses are designed by engineers and draftsmen, not architects.

Not how it's done

"I understand that design/build is a huge issue in the commercial construction industry, but that's really not how jobs are bid/won in the one- and two-family marketplace," Schwanke said.

While Schwanke looks at the bidding process to determine what project delivery method was used, others look at whether an architect was involved in the design phase.

Douglas Rose, an attorney who practices construction law in Brookfield, said, "spec houses probably resulted in some changes where builders wouldn't have an architect necessarily set up.

"The builders would have their own in-house architects design the buildings," Rose said. "At that point, you're looking at a situation where this design/build concept came about."

Rose said after spec houses became more common, "contractors got into the idea of contracting directly with homeowners and offering to design/build a new house without an architectural professional being involved.

"It used to be that you had homeowner, architect and builder, and they're looking at their various functions and roles," Rose said. "Now you've essentially changed that to homeowner and builder."

That may come with some efficiencies, Rose said, but sometimes creates gaps too.

"Through the construction process, it would oftentimes be the architect who would bird-dog the project," Rose said. "From a legal perspective, it would put a lot of checks and balances on the project. I also don't have a potentially responsible party because I don't have the architect to look to."

That gap can be filled, Rose said, by bringing in a construction manager. But that can defeat the purpose, he said, if eliminating an architect was done for cost efficiency.

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