Design-Build Masterclass

For several years now, the shift toward a design-build approach has been gaining momentum. Today we talk to Brian Skripac, the director of virtual design and construction at the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA).

Brian’s training is in architecture, but he has worked as a BIM leader for almost a 20 years now. He enjoys the opportunities to collaborate and share with the goal of increasing efficiency. 

Brian lived through the shift from 2D with Auto CAD to 3D with Revit. He shares about a couple large projects that epitomized that shift and its effects on the relationship between owners and design-builders. 

This shift is still underway, of course. You may have observed or experienced the array of concerns that people have when sharing designs. Sometimes it can border on paranoia. Eddie asks Brian to talk about managing risk, and Brian goes straight to a recurring theme from the podcast: trust. He shares his own experience in getting over the road blocks that slow the flow of information among stakeholders.

Brian talks us through an experience he had helping Ohio State University transition from 2D blueprints to BIM models for more than 40 million square feet of their buildings. OSU has tied in site information and a whole range of other elements, all of these linked into a spreadsheet. This required a change-management process that included a plan for converting native files.

We discuss the difference between design-bid-build and design-build. Brian says that design-build is targeted to be 47% of all construction projects by 2025. That’s up from 42% in 2021. This approach is quickly becoming mainstream. 

The main difference is that with the design-build approach the owner has a single contract with a design-build team rather than multiple contracts with architects, designers, and builders. This integration–at least when it works well–can streamline the process substantially. 

There is an evolution that has to take place in individual roles with design-build. Brian presents examples of how this approach enables designers to spend more time designing rather than communicating. A good design-build team can more efficiently solve a greater number of problems. The cohesive we can function much more nimbly than a group of separate individuals. 

On the education/training side, DBIA is all about design-build done right. They establish universal best practices and then share those in a number of ways. They have a blog, webinars, and an annual conference.  The membership of DBIA is vast and diverse, so there is a rich flow of knowledge and insights. 

We discuss project size and how design-build can work with small projects as well as large projects. Then Brian talks through some of DBIA’s upcoming projects, including exploration of AI. 

Brian’s Megaphone Message: 

Don’t continue with business as usual. If we can break ourselves from the way we’ve done things in the past, there is great potential for improved communication and increased collaboration. We have to transform. 

Find Brian Online: DBIA’s website - DBIA on LinkedIn - Brian on LinkedIn

Find Us Online: BrosPodcast.com - LinkedIn - Youtube - Instagram - Facebook - Eddie's LinkedIn - Tyler's LinkedIn