Design-build is not a shortcut around decisions. It is a structure for making design, scope, constructability, selections, and field information inform one another at the right time.
Expect questions about the property and daily life before answers take form.
For a new home, discovery includes the land, access, utilities, restrictions, views, orientation, and household brief. For a remodel, it includes the existing structure, systems, previous work, occupied-home needs, and desired changes.
Design develops through review, priorities, alternatives, consultant input, and increasing definition. The decision record should become clearer as the drawings do.
Expect the team to test what the documents require to become build-ready.
Selections, engineering, specifications, site work, allowances, exclusions, owner responsibilities, procurement, utility information, and required approvals all affect readiness. Preconstruction should expose unresolved dependencies rather than hide them behind a broad number.
The resulting proposal and agreement define the project-specific scope and process.
Expect progress, questions, inspections, decisions, and documentation—not silence between milestones.
Field conditions and trade coordination can require clarification. A useful process identifies who raises the question, who decides, how scope or schedule consequences are documented, and where the current information lives.
Closeout includes review of incomplete or corrective work, owner orientation, relevant project records, and the obligations stated in the final agreement.
