Design & Build
In a design and build package one contract covers design development and construction. NLS Contractors prices design and build from the employer's requirements for helipads, pre-engineered steel buildings, modular facilities and building systems in Saudi Arabia, with the design carried out by consultants engaged for the package.
Design and build puts the designer and the builder under one contract. The employer issues a brief, a concept design or a performance specification, known as the employer's requirements, and the contractor takes responsibility for developing the design and constructing it. Traditional design-bid-build keeps those two contracts apart, with the consultant designing first and the contractor pricing afterwards.
It suits work that is repeatable or specialised. A pre-engineered steel warehouse has a standard structural system and a short design path. A helipad has a geometry fixed by the design helicopter, GACAR Part 138 and ICAO Annex 14 Volume II, so the design and the construction method are tightly linked. Modular buildings and site facilities are designed around the factory. Building services packages such as BMS or fire alarm are designed to a performance specification and an approved equipment list.
It suits one-off architecture less well. Where the owner's design intent has to be preserved in every detail, the owner's own consultant should keep control of the design.
The risks sit in the paperwork. The employer's requirements must say what is fixed and what the contractor may change. The design freeze date, who submits to Civil Defense, and who carries ground risk all need to be written down. Approvals that belong to the owner, such as a GACA heliport approval, stay with the owner, and the contractor supplies the documents behind them.
NLS Contractors prices design and build from the employer's requirements and names the design consultants engaged for the package, the design deliverables and their dates, and the variation basis. Send the requirements, the site information, and the programme.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a design and build contractor?+
A contractor who takes responsibility for both developing the design and constructing it under a single contract, working from the employer's requirements instead of finished consultant drawings.
When is design and build the better route?+
For repeatable or specialised work: pre-engineered steel buildings, helipads, modular facilities and building services packages. For one-off architecture the owner's consultant should keep design control.
Who holds the approvals on a design and build helipad?+
The owner holds the GACA approval. The contractor supplies the design and construction documents the submission relies on, and the employer's requirements should say who submits to Civil Defense.
What do you need to price a design and build package?+
The employer's requirements, site information including any geotechnical data, the programme and the approvals route. The offer lists its design deliverables, dates and variation basis.