DLC™ - What it means for Contractors

Design Led Construction™proposes a radically different landscape for Contractors; A landscape where competitive tendering on fully designed projects (or projects which are said to be fully designed...) in cut-throat competition, with clients who are too far down the line to want to change, is seen for the crazy thing that it is.


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Instead, DLC™ proposes competition on the basis of competence, efficiency (which should directly relate to margin and prelims), ability to work as part of a team, ability to develop cost-plans and project budgets that are flexible and realistic from the feasibility stage onwards.

Under DLC™, a Contractor is selected by the client for the Feasibility Phase - the foundation of the project (it is of course possible that the contractor has been responsible for assembling the design Team at the Inception Phase). As a major player in the team at this stage, the Contractor should be able and prepared to have input into the strategic options being developed, to comment on build-ability, on relative costing and programme implications of options under comparison, and be able to develop project budgets that can be relied on by the Client and the rest of the team. While a DLC™team may include a Cost Consultant for this phase, it is not typical, and the Contractor should be prepared play the lead in developing the project construction budget. Typically, the contractor will be paid a fee for work at this phase.

On the basis of a successful Feasibility Phase, the Contractor will hope to be appointed by the client as part of the Design Team for the Design Development Phase - again on a fee basis. During this phase, the selected strategic option is developed in sufficient detail to allow clear understanding of the way the proposal works, for it to be costed in some detail, and for it to be submitted for planning. The Contractor's role in this Phase is an amplification and development of the Feasibility Phase - contributing comment and advice on buildability, programme and cost issues as options are explored, and preparing detailed programe and cost information to the Client prior to finalisation of the scheme for planing. Note that the costing at this stage is still a budget costing - albeit the contingency margin should be significantly tighter than that allowed at Feasibility.

Note that the Client is free to choose different Design Team members at the outset of each phase - each is intended to be valuable to the Client on a stand-alone basis - so that if circumstances prevent further progress, the outcome and deliverables of each phase should form useful and comprehensive information that remains valid and useful in its own right.

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