Travel Guide or DIY Trip? Choosing Between Design Build & Traditional Planning

Artwork for podcast Your Home Building Coach with Bill Reid

Episode 42 • 31st January 2026 • Your Home Building Coach with Bill Reid • William W. Reid

William Reid (: 00:00

All right, let's talk about something you've probably heard thrown around. Maybe you've seen it on websites, heard it from a contractor or seen ads saying full service design build and thought, what the heck does that even mean? You're not alone. And here's the thing, design build is one of those industry terms that sounds fancy, but leaves most homeowners scratching their heads. And here's why that matters. If you don't understand what design build,

Actually is that term that

used design dash build design build business You might miss out on a perfect solution for your project or you might get sold in something that's completely wrong for you So today we're gonna change that I'm gonna break down exactly what design build means When it makes sense when it doesn't

And most importantly, how to tell if you're dealing with a real design build company or just a contractor with a nice website. Let me start a story that probably sounds familiar. A homeowner calls me up and says, hey Bill, I'm planning a major kitchen remodel. I've been talking to this company that says they do design build. Does that mean they're better? And I ask, well, what did they tell you design build means?

And you know what the answer usually is, crickets. They don't actually necessarily know or they really haven't implemented a true design build business model. This happens all the time. Companies throw design build around as marketing without actually defining it.

this creates massive confusion about what you're actually hiring. And it's different from just having a contractor who can also draw some plans.

So here's why understanding design build matters more than you think. The way you structure your team, who you hire, how they work together, who's responsible for what can literally make the difference between a smooth project and a nightmare that costs you $50,000 more than it should have. Design build is one option for structuring your team and it's not the only one and there's no single right answer. It depends on your situation.

And understanding your options empowers you to make better decisions. So I'm gonna give you a quick teaser of what we're talking about. I've seen two homeowners tackle similar projects. One chose Design Build, and it was perfect for their situation. It was a smooth process, it was on budget, it was minimal stress. And the other got talked into Design Build when they should have gone the traditional route. And they ended up paying a premium for convenience.

They didn't actually need, and this is the critical point. It's gonna depend on your experience level, your tendency, the type of person you are. If you have experience in project management, it may not be in project management in the construction field, but you have the time and you have the experience in project management. The design-build business model may not be actually the perfect fit for you. So that's why we're gonna be talking about.

these different contrasting

you have. And these are the two main paths that you have, the traditional path and the design path. So let's start at the beginning. What exactly is design build and how did it become a thing and what makes it different from the way most people hire for their projects?

William Reid (: 03:18

All right, so let's break it down in plain English. Design build is actually pretty simple. Once you get past the jargon, it means one company, one single entity handles both the design of your project and the construction. That's it. Instead of hiring an architect to design your plans, then hiring a separate interior designer, then maybe even hiring separate consultants yourself.

then hiring a separate general contractor and builder and maybe even the related subcontractors. You hire one company that does both, that handles the construction aspect and the design aspect. So think of it like this, it's a difference between planning your own European vacation, booking your own flights, finding your hotels, mapping out what to see in each city versus hiring a travel company that arranges the whole trip for you. Both can get you to Europe.

But the experience of getting there is completely different. So do you want to just show up at the airport and they grab your hand and take you on a journey for two weeks? Or do you want to be right in the middle of

So now before we go deeper into design build, let's quickly talk about the traditional way most people do this. Because you need to understand the difference. In the traditional path, you hire an architect first. They spend three, four, maybe six months, maybe even a year designing these beautiful plans for you. You work together, you go through revisions, you pick out all your finishes. Finally, you have a complete set of plans.

Then you go find a contractor. You take those plans to three, four, maybe five contractors

and ask them to bid on building what your architect designed. You get the bids back, pick a contractor, sign a construction contract, and off you go.

Two separate contracts, two separate entities. And here's the critical part. You are the connector between the design and construction professionals. So let me give you an example of how this can go wrong. You hire an architect. Let's call her Sarah. Sarah's gray. She spends four months designing this beautiful new kitchen addition for you. You love it. It's perfect. You take Sarah's plans to three contractors for bids.

The bids come back, turns out what Sarah Design cost $200,000 more than your budget. Now what? Sarah wants more money to redesign everything. The contractors are sitting there waiting for you to pick one of them so they can start, and you're stuck in the middle trying to figure out how to make this work. So who pays for the redesign? How do you even know if the next design will hit your budget?

This is the traditional route when it goes sideways. And this happens a lot. I mean, this could almost, might even be considered the norm in the business. So that's the traditional model. Now let's talk about how design build is different. Design build flips that entire structure. One company, one contract, one point of contact.

from the first sketch to the final walkthrough. And here's how it works. A design build company usually starts as one of two things. Either it's a general contractor and a home builder who decided to hire designers and bring design services in-house. Or it's an architecture firm that decided to offer construction services. The first one, contractor who added design, that's the most common model.

I first started my company in: 1992

And there was also a big gap and absence frankly of addressing the client's budget and taking a design towards their budget.

It's a lot easier said than done, but I decided very early on that that's how I wanted to handle the project. And in my particular case, it worked out really well for the type of clientele that I had. These were busy, high tech professionals that just did not have the time to manage a project themselves. So the second model is an architect who offers construction. And that's not, I don't think that's as common, but it exists. And usually these are architecture firms that

partner with contractors or build construction capabilities in the house. And both models can work well. The key is understanding which one you're dealing with and making sure they have the right qualifications. So in a design build company, the in-house designers work for the construction company or vice versa. And they're all under one roof, one boss, one point of accountability. And this is what I call the guided

path in my book. The company leads you through the entire process. You're still making all the decisions. It's your project, your money, your home, but you've got one experienced team guiding the journey from start to finish.

There's built-in coordination between the design team and the build team because they work for the same company. They have the same accountability. They have their eyes on the same ball from the beginning all the way through to the end of construction. And they all talk to each other and they're on the same team. It's a lot more work to design and manage a design, build business model.

But in the end, the customers are happy and so are the contractors. So let's use that vacation, that European vacation analogy again. With design build, you show up at the airport with your bags packed and someone else has planned the route, booked the hotels, arranged the tours. You still make choices along the way, which restaurants to try, which museums to visit. But someone experienced is guiding the journey. And when you pick a restaurant and they know it's no good,

you're gonna find them guiding you away from that restaurant. And that's what your design professionals will do in a design build business model. Now here's where it gets interesting. Not all design build companies are built the same way and understanding this helps you evaluate them. So like I said, there are basically two ways a design build company gets started. Model number one, a contractor who hired designers. This is the most common.

got a construction company that's been building homes and remodels for years. They decide, hey, we should offer design services too. Let's hire some designers, bring them on staff. Now they can offer the whole package. These companies are typically build-focused with design support. The construction expertise is deep.

the design expertise depends entirely on who they hired. And some have licensed architects on staff, some have residential designers, and some just have drafters. And then there's that model number two, an architect who offers construction. Now this isn't as common in my experience, and you've got an architecture firm that decides to expand into construction. They might hire construction managers, partner with contractors.

or build construction capabilities in-house. And I want to underscore that partner with contractors because if the construction aspect of the business truly, genuinely isn't part of the architecture firm design build business, then you've already got a gap where you're not really truly operating under a one throat to choke design build business model, I call it.

So these companies are typically design focused with the build capabilities. The design expertise is usually strong. They're architects after all, but the construction expertise again, depends on who they are partnered with or who they are hired. Both models can work well. There's no better model. It depends on the qualifications of the people involved, including yourself.

and what your tendencies and desires and level of involvement will be or you want to be. So the key question to ask yourself is who leads the process? Is it design driven or build driven? And does that match your project needs? So that's what design build is. One company handling both design and construction under a single contract, providing a single point of contact. It's

different from the traditional path where you hire an architect and contractor and multiple people that you're in the middle of the process. And in the design build process, you're kind of out on the outskirts doing what you do best, making sure you're getting what you want. Well, everybody else is is mishmashing in the middle, figuring it all out. So now you understand the structure, hopefully.

In one company, one contract from design through construction, but why would you choose this? What are the benefits that make this worth considering? Let's dig into that next.

William Reid (: 12:19

All right, so here's where design build gets interesting. There are three big benefits that make this model attractive. And I'm going to be honest with you about all three because some of these do have some hidden catches.

But when the design build works, it works because of these three things. Built-in accountability, seamless handoff from design to construction, and budget alignment from day one. Three absolutely foundational aspects of a great experience. So let's break down what each of these actually mean in real life with real money.

Here's the thing about accountability that nobody really talks about. When things go wrong on a project, the finger pointing begins. And in the traditional model, you the homeowner end up as the referee. Design build changes that dynamic completely. Let me paint you a picture. So the traditional model, your architect designed something, hands the plans to the contractor, a completely separate individual entity.

Contractors starts building and discovers a problem. Maybe the architect didn't specify a structural beam that's needed,

something that's way more complicated to build than it looked on paper. So what happens next? The architect says, well, the contractor should have caught that during the bidding. Contractor says, this wasn't in the plans, this is a change order. And you're sitting in the middle going, wait.

Who's supposed to pay for this? That's a 15, 20, maybe it's a $30,000 surprise. And you are the one stuck figuring out who's responsible. Design build, one company is responsible for everything. If the designer makes a mistake, if they forget to account for that structural beam, if they design something that's more expensive to build than they estimated, that's the company's problem.

not yours. Now, let me add a few more elements to this. This can really get into a little bit of a moral, ethical standard for some companies. Even some design build companies will still go back to the customer and attempt to recover costs from design oversights. But in the design build business model that I ran for 35 years,

One of the steps in the processes is once our design team develops a schematic design in design step one that I covered in the design process, the next step is to do what's called a site inspection. And this is how a lot of design build companies operate and should operate. They do a site inspection. They bring all of the necessary project foreman, superintendents,

subcontractors, structural engineers.

anybody that's paramount and important to developing a high quality set of plans and specifications. We would go through a detailed checklist and make sure that the designer has specified blowing this wall out and moving these windows over here and raising the ceilings and doing all these things. It's the design builds company, the construction arm of the division to make sure that everything that's being drawn and discussed and dreamed about is feasible.

and is included within the plans and specifications so that the project is actually estimated properly and built properly. And if some of these oversights, because the company sold you a design build solution, if these things get overlooked, this is something you should never hear about as a customer, is one way to put it. They should come up with a proper solution and they should implement any remedies that are required.

And remember, you always have certain aspects of a project as a third party observation, whether it's the planning department, the building department, or the inspection process will catch a lot of these things. So let me give you kind of like a real example. So a kitchen remodel, homeowner wants to remove a wall to open up the space. Makes sense. Happens millions of times every year.

Lots of people do this and the designer creates the plans. Remember designers in a design build business model aren't necessarily seasoned licensed architects. In fact, a lot of them could be interior designers that are fully capable of conceptualizing and creating beautiful spaces, but may not have the structural knowledge and understand the impacts of their design. And that's why in a design build business model,

the construction aspect of the business steps in and works with the interior designer or the residential designer or even the architect and they do an

a feasibility study to make sure that what's being proposed is possible, documented and priced out. So in this scenario, the designer creates the plans, they go to permitting, building department says, wait.

That's a load-bearing wall. Where's the beam specification? And it turns out the designer didn't account for those structural requirements. Now we need an engineer to design a beam. We need permits amended. We need to order and install a beam that wasn't in the original plan. In the traditional model, that's a change order to the homeowner. Why is that? Because you have a separate architect and you have a separate contractor.

and there's that literal seam there and that handoff and who pays for that? If it's not on the plans, if the architect left them off the plans and the contractor didn't price it, ultimately you as a homeowner have to pay for it. Now I guess theoretically you could go back to your design professional and say, hey, I think you should have caught this. Is this really something I need to be paying for?

And in my experience, that's what happens. You end up paying them for it regardless of whose heir it is. And this is also another reason why architects carry heirs and emissions assurance, which we haven't covered yet today. So when your designer's boss is the same person who has to build what they drew, they get really careful about getting it right. And that's what I did

is it's my job, because I wanted to protect the client experience. I wanted to build those referrals. I never wanted to go back to the client and say, hey, we need to charge you more money, unless I just flat out asked, flat out added something. Now I say this, but I've been on other podcasts in this world here, design build companies explaining some of their philosophies and real life scenarios, and I have heard of companies that would still go back to the client.

and charge them. I have a really big problem with that. And I don't think a customer that has hired a design build business should ever accept that. You hired them to look out for you from the beginning to the end. Remember, the design build business model removes that seam of transfer, of handoff. It's the same company. You should not be involved. You should not ever be asked to pay for something that was

supposed to be in the plans. So that's what I call built in accountability. The company's survival depends on getting the design right because they're the ones who have to build it. So they perform extra due diligence, at least the good ones, during the design phase to avoid construction surprises. The people that care about their clients, that care about the process, that care about the experience and want to take on a design build business model.

better be prepared to accept this built-in accountability. And if they're not, they'll die. Hopefully they don't take you with them.

So they bring in structural engineers early. They check with subcontractors during design. They think through constructability before putting it on paper. Because if they don't, it costs them money. So that's accountability. But it only works if the design and construction teams actually communicate, which brings us to benefit number two.

In the traditional model, there's at this moment where the architect hands you a set of plans and basically says, good luck, and walks away. Now you've got to find a contractor, explain the whole project to them again, and hope they understand what the architect intended, hope they interpret the plans correctly, and hope there are no gaps in the specifications. Design build eliminates that handoff entirely.

And I also say that if you do decide to do the traditional method, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with that, but if you do the traditional method and you're doing a significant remodel or maybe a custom home or maybe a very high-end custom home, you may want to hire the architect as a construction administrator and they will see the project all the way through, answer all the questions and take charge of it for you.

It's usually an extra service beyond them handing you that set of plans. So this design build eliminates that handoff entirely. And why? Because there is no handoff. The design team works for the same company that builds. They're in the same office. They talk to each other every day. They coordinate internally, not through you. And decisions are made during design.

already consider construction reality. The designer knows what the build team is capable of. The build team knows what the designer is thinking. No translation needed.

So let me tell you what this looks like practically. During design development, and remember, that's that step two in the design process where you really get into the design details. This is after the schematic, the fun conceptual stage. The designer comes up with an idea for a custom built-in entertainment center. In the traditional model, they draw it up, put it in the plans, and the contractor sees it for the first time when they're bidding the job. The contractor goes,

that's gonna be expensive or I'm not sure how to build that.

In design build the designer walks down the hall and says to the lead carpenter Hey, I'm thinking about designing this entertainment center. What do you think? Can we build this? What is it gonna cost? They work it out before it goes into the plants and that kind of coordination Happens constantly in the world of design build. It's invisible to you as the homeowner, but it's happening behind the scenes throughout the design process

Why? Because it's their butt if it doesn't work. It's their butt if it blows the budget. And here's another benefit, the timeline. In the traditional model, everything is sequential. Design happens, design finishes, then you find a contractor, then construction starts. Each phase waits for the previous phase to complete. In design build, phases can overlap.

While the designers are finishing construction documents, the build team can already be doing pre-construction work. They can start ordering long lead time items. They can line up subcontractors. They can pull permits. I've seen this save four to six months on a major remodel compared to the traditional sequential approach. And fewer change orders.

Why? Because the build team influenced the design from the beginning. They're already caught the issues that would have become change orders later. That coordination is huge, but here's why the design build really shows its value.

Let's talk money.

William Reid (: 23:53

Budget alignment, this is the benefit that saves homeowners the most money and the most heartache, but it's also the most misunderstood. So I'm going to walk you through exactly how this works with a real example. In the traditional model, you design first and price later. Your architect designs your dream home. You spend months on it. You pick up all the finishes. You pick all your finishes.

fall in love with the design, then you find out what it costs to build. Now that's the traditional model. Now there are proactive, progressive architecture firms and builders that will insert quality assurance checks when it comes to the design, but also the budget in the middle of the design process. And if you decide to go the traditional method, you're going to want to ask some of those questions like how are we going to stay on budget?

and more often than you'd think, what it costs to build is way more than what you have to spend.

Now you've got to go back. Redesign, value engineer, cut things out. Your architect wants more money to redesign. You're frustrated. The contractors are sitting there waiting. It's a mess. Design Build flips this. The builders involved from the first sketch, they can provide cost guidance as the design develops. So let me give you an example. I may have used this one before.

but you're planning a major remodel. You mentioned to your design build team, I'd really love to have a basement, extra living space, storage, maybe a guest room, maybe a man cave. In the traditional model, your architect would design a beautiful basement. Three months later, you find out it cost $200,000. Turns out basements are expensive. Who knew? Now you can't afford it, but you've already spent thousands

on design and engineering. Now.

now professional architects and designers that are engaging with a client and they're in the traditional model and They hear the clients say I want a basement that is usually their call to initiate a conversation about budget But the problem is it doesn't happen often enough and this is where everybody gets into trouble it's hard to talk about money and as a homeowner

Some people don't like to talk about money. As an architect, the creative or designer or interior designer, creative people don't necessarily like that as their first topic of conversation. These are the hard conversations to have and a lot of times they get overlooked, quote unquote. So in the design build model, that conversation happens day one. You say, want a basement. They say, okay, basements typically run 150 to $200,000. Does that fit your budget?

So this is the kind of conversations that happen because why? Because the principle of the business and a lot of times it is the builder. A lot of times it is the person that will be doing the budgeting, the costing of the project and presenting the contract. They don't want that uncomfortable situation. So they're gonna say, they're gonna offer things like, let's talk about the cost now, good time to pause and talk about it. Would you like me to provide an option for that or is this something you?

love and have that dialogue. And if you're not hearing that in either model, you're going to want to initiate that yourself. So boom, You've saved months of design work and thousands of dollars in wasted plans and engineering. This kind of real time costs or feedback happens throughout the design process.

in the design build business model. It's called value engineering. You're analyzing cost versus value as you design instead of getting surprised at the end. This happens all the time. So let me give you another real life example from a project I worked on. We were deep in design development for a new home. The client showed us a picture of this 40 foot long glass door wall along the whole back of the house.

I I've probably told this story before. But one of those massive sliding systems that opens up to the whole back of the home of the yard, one of those massive, you know, sliding systems that opens up the whole back of the home to the yard, beautiful, very impressive. And as we progressed through the design and engaged with the structural engineer, we realized this wide open span would require massive steel beams.

steel posts, huge concrete footings to support the roof of the home and the weight of the glass door system. And of course, once the client showed us this beautiful picture and as the builder orchestrating a design build business model with my own design staff, the red flag started to go up and that's when the conversations were initiated. So this project didn't have an unlimited budget. So I asked the question, how much is the steel going to cost?

What's the value of this open wall relative to its costs? Well, the steel contractor alone was $50,000 plus engineering plus specialty glass system. We were looking at 70, 80. It's actually, it was more like $200,000, I think. I think we were looking at probably $150,000 or something to do it as they.

as they desired, maybe even more. So I brought this to the client, we talked about it, we analyzed whether that expense was worth it for what they'd gained. Here's what we figured out. If we simply included one post in the middle of this run, in this 40 foot span, we could eliminate all the steel, the post provided the support we needed mid-span, and really when it came down to it, it didn't.

not negatively affect the design and the flow of the space from the inside to the outside. I think we saved like 50 grand doing that. So the value of the glass wall became much higher, right? Because the cost dropped dramatically. And here's the kicker. The client actually preferred having the post there. It broke up the space visually in a way they liked better than one massive open span. So the moral of story is,

You don't, just because a client brings something to a design professional doesn't mean the design professional should just take it and run with it. This is the opportunity to have a dialogue, a conversation about it.

this is where design build companies really shine. You get cost certainty throughout the process instead of getting surprised at the end. You can make informed decisions about whether features are worth their cost. You would avoid designing things you can't afford to build. Now I need to pause here and be honest with you about something. These three benefits, built in accountability, seamless coordination,

budget alignment, they're real. I've seen them work, I've lived them. But they come with trade-offs. And we're gonna make smart decisions. And if we're gonna make smart decisions, we need to talk about the downsides too. Because design build isn't perfect for every project or every homeowner. in fact, for some situation, it's the wrong choice.

talk honestly about why design build does not make sense.

William Reid (: 31:03

All right, so let's talk about the stuff most design build companies won't tell you. Because here's the thing, I ran a design build company for years and I can tell you straight up, this model is not right for everyone. and if someone is trying to sell you on design build without also explaining the downsides, that's your first red flag.

So let me give you the honest truth about what you're giving up when you choose design build and when you should probably go a different route. Drawback one, you do relinquish some control. The biggest trade-off with design build is this. You're putting a lot of eggs in one basket. One company controls your design and your construction. That's powerful when it works, but it also means you have less visibility

and less control than you would managing separate teams. Let me break that down and what this means practically. can't play your architect against your contractor for better pricing. In the traditional model, if your contractor's price seems high, you can say, well, my architect says this should cost X. Or if your architect designed something expensive, your contractor might say, hey, there's a cheaper way to do this.

With design build, there's no tension between the design and construction, no natural checks with balances, the company controls both. design decisions get influenced by what the company knows how to build. Their design creativity might be limited by their construction comfort zone.

If they've built 100 traditional homes, but never a modern one, guess what? The style they're gonna push you towards. You get less transparency into individual costs. So when design and constructions are bundled, it's hard to see what you're paying for design versus what you're paying for construction. And some companies are very transparent about this, but others, not so much.

And I discovered that early on in my design build business model that it was important for clients to understand what the value of the design is, what the cost of the design is, and what the cost of the construction is. So I created two different agreements, although we were the same company, to make the client feel comfortable in that step-by-step approach and design so they didn't feel like they were just biting off this big thing with no way out.

So I designed that purposely and that's another way to build in self accountability for myself as a business owner operating a design, build business model. And if you're a hands on homeowner, someone who wants to be involved in every decision, wants to vet every subcontractor, wants to manage a process yourself, design build is gonna feel restrictive. And this happens to be folks in my opinion that are experienced, that have built homes before.

that have the time, that have the knowledge and the expertise, not necessarily that you are a designer, you are a contractor, or you are a project manager, but you feel like you have the competency level for that, and you've done it before, you might want to have your fingers in every single aspect because you have the time, because you have the experience.

And then one more thing, if you don't trust them, you're stuck in the traditional model. In the traditional model, if your architect isn't working out, you can fire them and find a new one, frankly. Your contractor relationship is separate. With design build, if the relationship sours, you're in a much more difficult position. So that's the control issue. But here's another big one that could affect your wallet. Less competitive bidding.

In the traditional model, you can take your architect's finished plans to three, four, five contractors and get competitive bids. You can see exactly what each contractor charges for the same scope of work. You can negotiate, you can leverage one contractor's price against another's. Design build, you're committed to one builder from the start. No bidding war, no leveraging. You can't easily get...

comparison quotes midstream once you've invested in design with a design build company switching to a different builder means kind of starting over now Does this mean you always pay more? with design build no often the efficiency savings fewer change orders better coordination faster timeline Offset the lack of competitive bidding

but you need to go in with your eyes wide open. You're paying for convenience and coordination, and there's a lot of value to that, but you're giving up the ability to shop around for the best construction price. And let's keep in mind that in the world of the design, build, business model, you as a homeowner, hopefully have gone through that discovery phase that I laid out way back in episode probably one, two, three, four, five.

where you've established the amount of money that you want to invest in your project, regardless of the project design. And as a design build business model, their goal is to achieve that, right? And to communicate with you about all the way along the process. So the fact that you're gonna go out and try to find the cheapest contractor to build off your plans is almost counterintuitive when you have a company

working towards that goal all the way along. And you are going to completely eliminate those often horrific surprises when you go out to get bids on a project because you have not interfaced or interacted with a contractor to do any budgeting during the design process.

And this brings me kind of to drawback number three.

And here's the bottom line. Design build requires you to trust one company with potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars

before you've even seen a single finished plan Think about that. You're committing to a builder before the design is done You're trusting them to design something you'll love and build it for a fair price

That level of trust isn't easy to establish. It's also harder to switch horses midstream than in the traditional model. If you hire an architect and in three months you realize they're not a good fit, you can part ways. Take what design work has been done and hire someone else. Your contractor relationship is still separate. With design build, if the relationship sours halfway through design,

you're in a little bit more of a tough spot.

invested time and money, walking away means starting completely over with a new company. This model is not for skeptical homeowners who need multiple options on everything. It's not for people who have trust issues with contractors. It requires you to thoroughly vet the company upfront and then commit. Trust, but verify.

You need checkpoints throughout the process. You need stages where you can evaluate and decide whether to move forward. But at the end of the day, you're trusting one company with a lot. All right, so those are the three big drawbacks. Less control, no competitive bidding, and high trust requirements. Now let me be really clear about when you should choose a different path entirely.

Some projects and some homeowners should not use design build and here's when you should go to the traditional route instead. Small, simple projects. If you're doing a kitchen cabinet reface, a bathroom vanity replacement, new flooring, you probably don't need a design build company. That's overkill. Find a good designer or kitchen specialist, get some plans, get the contractor quotes, done.

When you have a specific architect you want to work with, maybe you've seen their work around town, maybe a friend referred them, maybe their style is exactly what you want.

architect you're drawn to and they don't offer construction

with them, hire them for design, then find a contractor. And remember,

that the really good architects also have a list of builders that they've worked with in the past and have experience with that you can use to evaluate your plans, do some budgeting, and eventually build your project. Experienced homeowners who want hands-on control. If you've done projects before, if you understand construction, if you enjoy managing the process, and

and being involved in every detail, the traditional path gives you more control and visibility. If you're budget sensitive projects where competitive bidding matters the most, if you're on a tight budget and every single dollar counts, being able to bid your project out to multiple contractors and pick the lowest qualified bidder might save you 10, 15, 20 % compared to a design bill premium.

But I got to tell you, I'm not convinced that's the case when all is said and done at the end of the project. When you pull out all your receipts and you look to see what you spent, I'm not convinced that's the case. For a reputable design build company, they're going to provide you a high level of value and achieve your goal. So you can tell I'm a little more swayed toward the design build business model because

It eliminates a lot of problems.

When you don't have a strong referral or trust foundation, maybe the case where you go the traditional method, if you don't know anyone who's used the design bill company, if you don't have a trusted recommendation, if you've just responding to their ad and their website, that's risky. It might be better to hire separately when you can vet each professional individually.

So now you know the benefits and the drawbacks. You understand when it works and when it doesn't. But here's the critical piece. Not all design build companies are created equal. Some are legitimate, experienced teams with qualified professionals. Others, they're just contractors with nice websites who slap design build on their marketing materials because their competitors are doing it. So let's talk about the red flags.

and the questions you absolutely must ask before signing anything.

William Reid (: 41:19

All right, this is where we separate the professionals from the pretenders because here's the truth, any contractor can put design build on their website. Doesn't mean they actually have qualified designers and doesn't mean they know what they're doing. So I'm gonna give you the exact questions to ask and the red flags to watch for that will tell you whether you're dealing with a legitimate design build company or just a contractor with a nice marketing department.

Red flag number one, design fees rolled into the construction.

And this is kind of a big one. If the company won't give you separate pricing for design services versus construction, that's going to be a problem. Legitimate design build companies separate their design agreement from their construction contract. They give you a proposal for design. First, you can see exactly what you're paying for for design. You understand the value. You can compare it to what an independent architect would charge. Then,

Once design is complete, they give you a separate construction contract with a price to build what was designed. This structure protects you in several ways. First, it allows you to understand what design costs are relative to construction. You can evaluate whether you're getting good value for the design services.

Second it gives you the option to stop after design if needed Maybe the construction price comes in too high. Maybe the relationship isn't working You can take the plans and you can go to a different builder. You're not locked in Remember you have paid for those design plans and they're your

that's something you're gonna want to have a complete understanding with

with a design firm. They may not like that you ask the question, if I decide not to proceed any further, will I be getting the plans and design? And if they say no, and you look at the cost and the value of their design, and you suspect it might be too low, that's because they're using it as an opportunity to kind of reel you in and sell you cheap design services, but they're really burying the rest of the cost into the construction contract. So.

it's to your benefit that they've put the proper amount of value on the plans because ultimately you may just want the plans. Now, that should be a very rare situation. That's not why you hire a design build company, but in order to protect yourself as part of our mission, as you know, if you're one of our loyal followers, we're enlightening you right now, we're empowering you, and we're protecting you. And third.

It forces the company to value their design services appropriately, right? They can't hide weak design behind bundled pricing. if a company rolls everything together into one contract, design and construction, bundled price,

can't separate them, they're hiding something. Either they're inflating the design costs and hiding it in construction, or they're undervaluing design to get to the construction contract. Either way, run. The question to ask, are your design services separate from your construction contract? If they say no, or they get defensive, or they say, prefer to bundle everything, red flag.

So that's contract structure. Red flag number one. Now let's talk about qualifications. Red flag number two.

this red flag might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how many design build companies have zero licensed design professionals or professionals with any level of credentials, zero. They might have a drafter, someone who knows how to use CAD software, someone who can draw plans, but no licensed architect, no licensed or.

credentialed residential designer, no actual design credentials. Here's what you ask. What are the qualifications of your design team? Listen carefully to the answer. Are they vague? Do they say things like, have experienced designers without giving specifics? That's a red flag.

you want to hear, we have a licensed architect and staff, or our lead designer is a licensed residential designer with 15 years experience. We work with a separate structural engineer on all of our projects. So the follow-up questions are, do you have a licensed architect and staff? What are the credentials? Can I verify them? Do you have a structural engineering support? Who reviews the structural aspects of the design? And remember that

In my previous episodes, I talked about design professionals and there are different levels and you may not need a licensed architect to do your remodel or your renovation of your project, but you do need a designer that has the level of experience and can demonstrate that with the level of plans and details that they provide. They could be called residential designers, which means they have had training under architects.

that they are qualified to do the type of projects that you're looking for. You could be working with an interior designer on a renovation or a remodel project that is capable, that has the credentials at the very least, and is capable of drawing plans and details and specifications to submit for building permits. I ran my business that way for many, many years, and it worked out really well because as the builder, I saw that in a lot of

high-end remodels and renovations that we did, we designed from the inside out. And a qualified residential or interior designer, and I also employed residential designers, because I was closely managing and orchestrating the design, build, business model, I was able to control every aspect of it and the details. The details are what really matters.

Now remember, some states don't require any licensing for designing single-family homes, and anyone can legally draw residential plans. So that's not really that reassuring, it's kind of scary, but just because they can legally do it doesn't mean they're qualified. So match the qualifications to your project complexity. If you're doing structural changes, removing walls, adding second stories, major renovations,

You probably need a licensed professional to do that, an architect or a structural engineer at a minimum that consults with their residential designers and their interior designers that ultimately provides drawing and details and certifications to the plans. That can work.

And if they tell you, we've been doing this for 20 years, we don't need no architect. You might want to run. Check their credentials yourself. Don't just take their word for it. Ask for license numbers, verify them with your state licensing board if they in fact employ a licensed professional. So qualifications do matter. But here's another critical question about the design process itself.

no really defined design stages. So red flag number three, they can't explain their design process in clear stages. If they're vague about how design progresses, that's a big warning sign.

So you can go back to my design process series and you can learn about schematic design, design development, and construction documents. These are three primary, very common stages of design, and there's two on the ends. There's a discovery period sometimes for bigger projects, and there is the building permit process. But the three core are there for you to review. So.

Each stage should have clear deliverables. You should know what you're getting at the end of each stage. Ask them, there stages to your design services? What are they? They should be able to walk you through it clearly. First, we do schematic design, and it costs about X dollars. It takes about X weeks. You'll receive these deliverables. Then we move to design development and so on. And then you ask, can we stop at any point?

Good companies allow you to pause and evaluate before moving to the next stage. Maybe you complete schematic design, look at the rough budget and decide the project isn't feasible right now. You should be able to stop. You've paid for the work completed. You walk away. If they say no, once we start, you're committed for the whole process. Red flag. Also ask if we decide to stop.

Do I own the plans? You should own the work you've paid for. If you've paid for schematic design, you should be able to take those drawings with you. They may not be complete enough to build from, but they're yours. If they say the plans belong to them, even if you paid for them, that's a major red flag. Design stages with clear deliverables and the ability to stop at checkpoints, that's professional.

Vague processes with no clear stages, that's amateur. all right, qualifications and processes, now let's talk money. Here are the money questions that you need to ask, and if they get squirrely about answering any of these clearly, walk away. How do you determine design fees? There should be a clear formula. Maybe they charge a percentage of estimated construction cost.

Maybe they charge by the square footage of the project. Maybe they have a lump sum for each stage based on project complexity. Whatever it is, it should make sense. If they say we just kind of figure it out based on what feels right, red flag. Do you charge hourly or lump sum for design? Both can work. Hourly means you pay for actual time spent. Lump sum means fixed price for the design work. Each has pros and cons.

The key is the transparency. If they charge hourly, what's the hourly rate? What's the estimated total hours? What happens if they go over the estimate? If it's a lump sum, what exactly does that include? What would trigger additional design fees? What percentage of the construction costs does design represent? For design build companies, design fees typically run five to eight percent of construction costs.

compared that to independent architects who could charge 12 % or even more 10 to 12 % if they're charging 15 % and calling it design build That's not really offering you value. That's just bundling services and charging full architectural rates So what happens if we go over budget during design? This is critical. Let's say

that they design something, estimate it'll cost $400,000 to build. Then they actually price it out and it comes back at $550,000. Who pays to redesign? In a good design build company, they absorb that because they hopefully have discussed this budget and had budget touch points, and I call them checkpoints, in the design process in my previous episodes.

so they can make sure. And budget checkpoints aren't just, hey, we think it's this much. They actually do some analysis, and that's what we would do for a client. It's still difficult as a design-build company to really pin it down to the dollar during the early stages of design. But at least there are some data points that have been developed so that a true professional builder, contractor, can do some analysis beyond just a per square footage price of the overall project.

and guide the design staff to meet the budget or get close to it at least. So if they miss the budget, they fix it. In a bad one, they charge you more design fees to redesign. Now keep in mind, you could also be the culprit as well. If you were indecisive, if you made them make a bunch of changes that was not tied to the original scope of work, such as your architectural style or the amount of rooms and spaces and whatever,

You could be the culprit too. And you have to be fair. It's an equal playing field there. So you're gonna wanna understand this whole process upfront. And then a question you could propose is, can you show me itemized costs for design versus construction? Even if it's one contract, eventually, they should be able to break down. Here's what the design costs, here's what the construction costs. If they can't or won't, they're hiding something.

Check their work. So you're going to want to be checking their references and their portfolio. And you can do your homework on their past work. This really isn't optional. can I see examples of projects similar to mine? Look at their portfolio. Do you like their style? Does their work quality match what they're charging? Have they done projects of similar size and complexity to yours?

Request at least three client references from projects completed in the last two years

those references and actually call them and ask some questions to these references. How was the communication throughout the project? Did they stay on budget? If not, why not? And how did they handle it? Did they meet the timelines? How did they handle problems when they came up?

Would you use them again? And that last question is kind of a big one. If someone says they did okay, but I wouldn't use them again, that's a huge red flag. And there's one other thing that I wanna add into this little reference strategy is ask for names of people that are actually in design process now and in construction right now. Because that is when it's fresh in people's minds. That's when they're truly experiencing.

what is happening as opposed to people in the past where time kind of ⁓ covers over some of the experiences in the past. And visit some completed projects if you can. See the quality of their work in person. And of course check their licensing and their contractors, insurance and bonds and so on.

William Reid (: 55:08

All right, well, I'm just going on and on and on here, but I've got so much to talk about about this design, build business model. And these are really important things as you really start to seriously consider taking on your project. Here's a section that I like to talk about. It's your own self assessment. And this is a series of questions to ask yourself and be honest. Your answers will tell you a lot about if design, build fits.

Do I have limited time to devote to this project? If yes, design build is an advantage. They handle the coordination, you make decisions, but they manage the process.

If you say no, I have time, traditional might work fine. You can manage the coordination yourself. Do I have experience hiring contractors and designers? If no experience, design process will probably reduce your risk. One company built in accountability, less chance of picking the wrong people. If yes, I've done this before, you can probably handle the traditional path.

You know what to look for, how to vet people, and how to manage the process. Do I want to be hands-on in every design decision? If no, I want guidance. Design, build, fits your style. They lead you, you approve. If yes, I want control, traditional gives you more visibility and control over every choice. Is this project critical to get right? Think about it.

Is this your forever home, your dream retirement home? Aging in place remodel, you'll live in for 30 years. If yes, I can't afford mistakes, Design Build Premium might be worth it for the peace of mind and built-in accountability. If no, I can adjust as we go.

traditional approach with flexibility might just work fine.

Do I have a strong referral for a design build company? If yes, trusted recommendation from someone whose judgment you trust, that reduces the risk significantly. You're not going in blind. If no, just looking at a website and ads, that's risky for design build. Better to hire professionals separately where you can vet each one individually based on their experience.

and especially if you still want to consider the design build business model, then do some of those steps I talked about in vetting the design build professionals yourself. So in my book I have this whole section called This Path Might Be Right For You and it walks through the ideal design build homeowner profile.

All right. Well, I've been going on about this design build path that we have, and I call it the guided, the guided path. Whereas the self guided path is the traditional method. This is the guided path. And then as once we get into the build quest application I've developed, and when it's time to search for your pros, you're going to see those options. You're going to decide. And actually Quinn is going to help you decide based on some of the

answers to the questions that he asks and he's gonna suggest whether you're a good candidate for a guided experience or a self-guided experience. So here's what we've covered today. Design build means one company handles both your design and construction under a single contract. Sometimes it's two separate contracts, but it's under one roof, one entity.

giving you a single point of contact from concept to completion. The big benefits, built-in accountability where the company is responsible for both design mistakes and construction issues, seamless coordination between design and construction teams, and budget alignment from day one so you're not surprised at cost at the end. The trade-offs? You relinquish some control.

you lose the ability to competitively bid construction and you need extremely high trust in one company. Design build is ideal for complex projects with inexperienced or busy homeowners who have a strong referral and prioritize experience quality over saving every single dollar. It's overkill for some simple projects and it's the wrong choice for experienced homeowners who want hands-on control

now I go into this in detail in my book, into the part four of the book actually, towards the end of the book, where now that you've learned all about the world of design and construction, you've gone through the discovery period, now we start helping you decide what's the next steps, the paths to take. And this chapter covers the design build process.

And also three other hiring models that we're going to talk about we talked about the design bill today We'll talk about the traditional method tomorrow or the next the next episode and there's other options that are kind of on the fringes of that That go one extreme or another that are ideal for certain type of homeowners

And those methods, I get into what's called an owner builder path, and that's where you are really immersed into the process, and you're actually coordinating everything, including actually physically working on your home and building your project, and the whole other extreme, which is called an owner agent, where you're completely detached, and you have somebody that's basically an extension of you coordinating the whole process, meaning,

helping you find the parcel that you want to build on, assembling the design team and

building the construction team, helping you obtain proposals and costs, and managing the project all the way through. That's called an owner-agent, and that usually works with people that are building second homes, very high-end homes, or people that just purely have zero time to manage a process but still want their dream home.

So each one of these has a place and the book gives you kind of that full comparison plus the specific questions to ask.

And as you know, I love hearing from you guys. If you have questions about design build or if you're going through this decision right now and want to walk through your specific situation, send me a DM on Instagram or at the awakened homeowner or shoot me an email. It's in the show notes. And if if this episode helped you understand design build better, do me a favor.

or do them a favor, share it with someone you know who's planning a project. Forward the episode, text them the link, post it on social media, whatever you can do to help them. These kind of decisions can save people serious money and stress. that's what I have for you today. This, I think, is episode 42 as I'm approaching my first year of podcasting.

and I've really enjoyed it and I'm hoping that I continue this on for the next year. I have a lot to cover. And remember, enlighten yourself, empower your decisions, and protect your biggest investment. That's what I'm up to and that's what we're gonna achieve. I'm Bill with the Awaken Homeowner. Let's make it happen.

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