Industries
Design-build and construction management
You are asked for a number long before there is a set to measure, and asked to stand behind it afterwards. That is two estimates and a reconciliation, not one takeoff.
Covered here
- Design-build contractors
- Construction management at risk
- Commercial and institutional projects
What you need, that a generalist does not produce
- 01
A conceptual or parametric estimate from an incomplete set
Priced at schematic or design development, where whole systems are still described rather than drawn, with the assumptions written down as assumptions.
- 02
A detailed estimate that supports a guaranteed maximum price
Built when the documents are far enough along to measure, in a form the number in your contract can rest on.
- 03
The reconciliation between the two
What moved between the early number and the detailed one, line by line, and why. This is the deliverable a lump sum takeoff never produces.
The evidence
Design-build and the other alternative delivery methods, CMAR, CM/GC, EPC and IPD, are forecast to reach roughly 89 percent of assessed United States construction spend by 2028, up from 63 percent across 2019 to 2023. Design-bid-build falls to 11 percent. Design-build cost put in place rises from 477.5 billion dollars in 2024 to 535.9 billion dollars in 2028.
Design-build totals by sector, 2024 to 2028: manufacturing 545 billion dollars, highway and street 399 billion, education 314 billion, commercial 295 billion, office 247 billion, and water and wastewater 189 billion, which is the fastest growing at 7.8 percent a year.
Inside the commercial and institutional work this delivery model covers, the mix has shifted faster than anyone has hired for. Data center construction now exceeds traditional office construction inside the Census office category: 50.7 billion dollars at an annual rate against 43.8 billion for general office in April 2026, up roughly 27 percent on the year.
Services that apply
Send a set, or start with a scope check.
A written fee and a delivery date come back before anything is measured. The scope check is free and tells you whether the set is complete enough to price.