Making Design/Build Work

There are many design/build models for remodeling, and all have pros and cons. At the heart of the matter is the type of business you want to run. You might want a tightly controlled, small firm in which you have intimate knowledge of every project at all times. You might want a large, decentralized business in which many people work on a project at one time and in which no one has complete knowledge of every project. Regardless of the size or structure of your business, you must have certain functions in your business to make design/build work.

These functions are sales, design, estimating and production. In a small company, this might be handled by one or two individuals. In a large business, several people might handle each task. What becomes apparent in either case is the importance of communication and oversight during the design/build process.

In a small company, the critical communication is between the designer/salesperson and the homeowner. When the designer, estimator and salesperson are the same person, the interdepartmental communication should be effortless. You must, however, not get complacent with the internal communication and forget to deliver the correct information to your client. The strengths of this type of organization are the strong internal communication and the potential for quick response. The downside is the lack of oversight inherent in a check-and-balance system.

I have heard numerous tales of designers/salespeople producing great sales for a company only to have production struggle to make money and keep the client happy. In this type of structure, the most effective way to operate profitably would be to be fully vertically integrated -- have the designer/salesperson/estimator also take production responsibility and earn his or her money based on job profitability. One risk of this structure is that you must hire individuals with broad, multidisciplinary skills -- and hire more of them whenever you want to increase your volume.

In a departmentalized business, the communication between departments is critical. The good thing about this is that if you communicate well internally, the information you deliver to the client should be complete and accurate with little additional effort. Whether you have individuals as departments or multiple people in each department, the communication between them is critical.

The most effective way to have good communication within your company is to have good procedures established and documented. Whether you plan to have multiperson departments or not, it is never too early to start developing procedures and documenting the tasks involved in each part of the process. The keys to an effective horizontal business structure are strong procedures, communication and management.

A business with multiple departments has a check-and-balance structure built into it, and if the procedures are in place, the communication and required documents are there. Additionally, you are hiring individuals with more specific skills, who are often easier to find. I would expect that you could hire an estimator, a designer or a project manager/lead carpenter easier than you could find one person who can do all of these jobs well.

You must work as hard to maintain your pre-production work as you do your construction schedules. Having your designer deliver a plan late is no different from having a subcontractor finish work late -- it delays the job and costs you time and money.

Another challenge is to make sure the individuals take responsibility and are empowered to make decisions in their work. How many times, in your business or one you patronize, have you heard the "it's not my job" line? When several people are working on a project, it is easy for no one to take responsibility. It is critical in this situation to be clear on who is responsible for the entire project. Every phase of the job -- design, sales, estimating, production -- needs a project manager, before the contract and afterward.