Rethinking design development

One of the biggest opportunities in both D&B and ECI projects is improving how designers and contractors collaborate from day one. Too often, design development follows a traditional, linear approach, where designs are developed in isolation before construction input is introduced. While this method works in some cases, it often leads to missed opportunities for optimising buildability, reducing risk, introducing cost-effective innovations and improving project efficiency.

Adopting a more integrated, collaborative approach involves:

• Starting with contractor input, considering construction methods, programme risks, capital expenditure (CAPEX), and constraints upfront
• Using an iterative design process, where designers refine the approach to meet standards, while maintaining practicality and buildability
• Aligning risk allocation early, allowing risks to be managed by those best placed to handle them, rather than being pushed onto the wrong party

One challenge that can arise is finding the right balance between design intent and construction efficiency. Some projects still follow a design-first mindset, where contractor input is treated as an afterthought. On the other hand, there are times when contractors may focus too much on short-term cost savings rather than long-term project value. Both perspectives are valid, but true success comes from collaboration to get a balanced total expenditure (TOTEX) outcome.

Another key factor is risk allocation. The best project outcomes happen when designers, contractors, and clients have open discussions early to identify risks that are allocated fairly, rather than being locked in without fair and reasonable consideration. When this doesn’t happen (i.e. parties not best placed to manage the risk are assigned the risk), the procurement model itself sometimes gets unfairly blamed.

So how can we implement a successful D&B and ECI approach?

• Encourage early and meaningful contractor engagement in the project design phase
• Foster a collaborative, problem-solving mindset rather than a defensive stance
• Align risk with capability, not convenience, ensuring each party manages what they’re best equipped to handle

If we can shift the conversation from ‘us vs. them’ to ‘how do we work better together?’, we’ll see more efficient, cost-effective, and constructible designs, providing better project outcomes for everyone.

As we share more learnings on D&B best practice, alongside our contractor and client partners, we would love to hear others’ thoughts — how have you seen this play out in your projects? And what, collectively as an industry should we be doing differently?