Design Build And Fence Industry Buzz!
Posted by Dawn Lowndes on Mon, Aug 08, 2011 @ 01:03 PM
Design-build projects have been used over the centuries as a method to increase productivity and reduce overall fence project cost. It is only recently making a comeback in the United States construction industry. To define design build in the traditional method would actually mean Design-bid-build the project or to actually split the design and construction part of a project into separate units. This basically means that the design team put each separate entity of the job out for bid. Of course this process takes time and can cost the buyer substantial amounts of money. Under the design build process each entity works in unison to deliver the desired outcome. The benefits to this process will be discussed latter, but for now the role that fence companies play in this process will be discussed.
Of course, as previously mentioned design build takes a lot of the responsibility off the buyer and places it onto the companies involved in the process. The buyer will lay out their particular needs and desires to the design-build team which in turn will pass it on to the professional fence company that wins the job. This means that the fence company involved must have a very good understanding of the customer’s wants and needs. The fence company must also have a very good understanding of the requirements for the particular type of fence and location. For example, VDOT and Military fence specifications have very different requirements and the fence company involved must understand how these requirements affect the job.
These types of projects require a well established and experienced fence companies’ participation. This is because without the right experience and resources smaller companies will more than likely lose out on the job. ASTM specifications play a very large part in these types of projects because very rarely is the specification drawn out on the plans. These specifications include everything from pipe diameter and wall thickness to how to properly brace the fence. As previously mentioned these specifications will vary depending on whether or not the project is a VDOT fence project or a government fence project.
The benefits to the design-build process are plentiful and can be discussed for quite some time but for the sake of this discussion they are only going to be briefly covered. The Design build system allows for greater productivity with fewer costs by allowing the companies involved to take on added risk. This of course means that the quality of work will improve. By eliminating the direct connection between the buyer and the subcontractors the buyer is allowed to focus more on the project and spend less time managing contracts and stacks of paper work. This process also removes a majority of the risk off the buyer and places it onto the design build team.
In conclusion the design build process has many advantages over the design-bid-build process and is becoming more common here in the US. Fence companies can obviously play a large role in this process and often due so it is important to get an experienced companies’ involvement to reduce the risk to the design build team.
Article Contributed by Todd Jones