Project brief
Define outcomes, constraints, location, and the decisions the project must resolve.
Independent design-build publication
Plan better. Build smarter.
Clear guidance from the first project brief and budget to materials, construction, and handover.
Feasibility
Test scope against approvals, site conditions, budget, and programme.
Design and build
Coordinate drawings, procurement, sequencing, quality, and change control.
Handover
Close inspections, records, commissioning, warranties, and owner training.
Essential reading
All guides What Is Design-Build? An Owner's Guide
What design-build means, who the architect works for, what drives its cost, when the price becomes firm, and the trade-offs owners should weigh.
Read guide
What Is Preconstruction? Phase, Activities and Services
What the preconstruction phase covers, its activities and services, how design, estimates and procurement loop back, and who decides before work starts.
Read guide
Lump Sum Construction Contracts: Types, Risk and Documents
Compare lump sum, cost-plus, GMP, unit-price and time-and-materials contracts by cost risk, and identify the documents included in a construction contract.
Read guide
Decisions made early shape the site.
Good design-build planning connects scope, approvals, cost, materials, and construction sequence before each choice becomes expensive to change.
Open the planning deskBrowse the project desk
Start with the decision in front of you, then follow the links through cost, delivery, and material consequences.
About SEI Design Build
Clear guidance for the decisions that shape a project.
SEI Design Build turns fragmented information about scope, cost, construction, and materials into practical guidance for owners and project teams.
About the publication