I'm going to start this week's newsletter by pointing out the (very, very) obvious: Everyone wishes the building process was more transparent, efficient, and less expensive. And just plain easier.

I know some people might scoff at this, but: Building doesn't have to feel like a slog. Nine times out of ten, the biggest setbacks come from a lack of communication and coordination between the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) teams and the stakeholders.

It's a frustration I can personally attest to—more often than not, contractors are brought in during the bid phase, which is too late for our team to assist the architects and engineers in finding cost-effective solutions. Too many cooks in a yet-to-be-built kitchen.

The good news is that making the process (significantly) more streamlined and (way, way) easier is a matter of making a key decision early on in the process. As you hire your team, there are essentially two approaches that can make all the difference:

1.) Hiring an architect that can handle construction administration, bringing your contractor in early to help with budgets and timelines.

The projects we've been involved with that allocate a budget for this have been rewarding and successful for everyone involved. It's typically a very collaborative process between the stakeholders and the AEC team. We highly recommend this process if you have the budget for it.

2.) Hiring a design-build firm that oversees all aspects of budget and timelines from start to finish, with one point of contact pointing the whole team towards the same goal: finishing on time and on budget.

With a design-build approach, you get the benefits of:

A recent report found that design-build projects are delivered 102% faster on average, and with 3.8% less cost growth than traditional methods. Pretty good, right?

If you have any questions, I'm here to answer them. Just respond directly to this email or give me a call.

Take care,

Aaron Baggaley & The Delta Team

CEO, Delta Family Companies