Early Contractor Involvement or Design and Build

Cook Brothers Construction has a strong portfolio showcasing expertise in ECI and D&B construction methods. The team has extensive experience overseeing the design management process, ensuring adherence to project budgets from the initial design phase, and collaborating with architects, engineers, and trade partners to achieve successful outcomes. Find out what method suits your project below, or to get results faster, contact us today, and let's build your project.

ECI, D&B - what is the difference?

The Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) procurement method involves utilising a contractor's skills early in a project to provide design advice and manage cost efficiencies during pre-construction.

In contrast, Design & Build (D&B) is a procurement method in which the contractor takes responsibility for the design of the works. Qualified designers/engineers are engaged directly by the main contractor and prepare the design. This approach also allows the main contractor to offer buildability advice in collaboration with their chosen consultants and manage costs during the design phase, typically with a pre-determined budget set at the beginning of the Design & Build agreement.

How does ECI or D&B work for you?

Communication

ECI and D&B models provide much better communication lines between the client, consultants and contractor throughout the design and construction phase than a traditional competitive tender procurement method. With everyone working together to create the design and settle on a maximum budget, this better communication means the project often runs more smoothly during the construction phase.

Efficiency

Both ECI and D&B models are found to result in faster construction completion times. Unlike a typical tender process, which requires time dedicated to the tendering process and often picks up issues within the design, resulting in re-design, design-build or ECI typically moves straight from the design phase to the construction phase as a lot of this pre-planning and design coordination has been completed.

Cost Management

ECI involves establishing a project budget early in the design or ECI phase and is usually based on Preliminary Design documents. An agreed design contingency % is then applied to this budget to allow for any scope gaps that may have yet to be considered during the early phases of design. This design contingency % is then reduced as the design progresses, and the budget is updated upon the completion of the Developed Design and then again upon the completion of the Detailed Design. Design-build involves agreeing on a set budget before the project begins. This helps avoid unexpected cost increases and keeps everyone accountable. 

Control

With the ECI model, the client generally still holds a lot of sway in the design decisions and cost outcomes, with the Main Contractor providing buildability and cost support as a ‘partner’ to the client throughout the design phase. In the design-build project delivery method, the client must hand over control of design details to the design-builder and team, particularly after the design phase ends and the construction phase begins as the contractor works towards a budget agreed upon at the outset. Clients who prefer to be more hands-on throughout the construction process will prefer the ECI process, while others will appreciate the relief of responsibility in the D&B Model.

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