The International Association for Automation and Robotics in Construction
Publications / CSCE/CRC 2025 - Montreal, Canada
Progressive Design-Build Opportunities and Challenges: A Literature Review
Risk transfer, insurance acquisition, and claims management can be challenging for complex construction projects. Various studies have separately identified qualifications-based selection, target pricing, and teaming agreements as contracting and procurement approaches to mitigate these challenges. Progressive design-build (PDB) methods can encompass all these approaches. Still, research on the PDB method's opportunities and challenges is lacking. With design-build project delivery expected to account for nearly 50% of the United States design and construction market by 2025, there is a need for innovative contractual solutions that address current challenges and capitalize on opportunities for improvement during the early stages of the project lifecycle. Owners and design-builders often face challenges in managing risk and fostering effective partnerships. Imbalanced risk allocation and misaligned stakeholder expectations can lead to project delays, budget overruns, and disputes between the project team. This literature review aims to identify opportunities and challenges in Phase 1 and 2 of the PDB project delivery method. A literature review of scholarly articles published on PDB was conducted to achieve the study objective. The study findings showed that PDB provides opportunities to enhance cost and schedule certainty, allocate risk equitably, enhance negotiation flexibility, and reduce claims and disputes in the construction industry. Yet, other challenges were identified, such as legislative restrictions, lack of owner education, team integration difficulties, and lack of industry interest. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by understanding the opportunities and challenges associated with PDB in Phases 1 and 2.