Every handoff between architect, engineer and builder costs a plant weeks it does not have. Industrial design-build puts the structural engineer, the civil team, the mechanical and electrical designers and the field superintendent on one contract with one schedule, so a decision about crane capacity or floor loading is made once and reflected in cost the same week. For a plant manager, that means one point of accountability for the tolerance, the utility demand and the date.
We run design-build with the owner's operating requirements as the controlling document. Before any drawing is started we write a basis of design that states clear height, column spacing, slab loading and flatness, dock count, electrical service size, fire protection density and expansion direction. Your operations and engineering leads sign it, and every later design decision is checked against it. If the basis changes, a change control entry records the cost and schedule effect before the drawings change.
We also offer the cleaner alternative when it fits. If your corporate real estate group has an architect and civil engineer in place, we join as the builder through preconstruction services and carry the same discipline. The choice depends on how much of the design is already fixed, how much schedule you can spend on bidding, and where you want the risk held.
One team, one basis of design
The design-build team is assembled around the building type. A cold or process plant needs refrigeration, controls and utilities engineers in the room early. A distribution building needs the racking or automation vendor present when column grids are set. We bring the discipline leads into a weekly design coordination session, and the superintendent attends so that constructability is tested while a change still costs a sketch and not a field rework.
Pricing is released in stages that track design maturity. A concept estimate comes with the basis of design, a guaranteed maximum or lump sum follows at a stated level of completeness, and each allowance has a closing date. That structure keeps a design that is running ahead of the budget visible, and it lets you stop or re-scope before the foundation is poured, which is the last inexpensive moment to do so.
Site conditions that belong in the design, not the change order
Colorado sites carry conditions that should shape the design from the first sketch. The Colorado Geological Survey notes that most homes, schools and roads in Colorado are in areas of potentially expansive clay, so the foundation concept needs soils data before the structure is chosen. Hail exposure affects roof membrane selection and rooftop equipment screening in the Denver area. Altitude changes combustion and cooling equipment capacity. Snow and wind loads vary from one jurisdiction to the next, and the engineer of record needs the right figure for the parcel.
Utilities are the other design driver. The electrical service size, the gas and water availability, and the fire water supply decide where the building can sit and how it can grow. We make the utility request in the first weeks and track the response, because the utility's lead time can outlast everything else on the schedule. Our site utilities package team prices the on-site run as soon as the point of connection is known.
Permits and code edition control
Design-build lets us design to the edition the jurisdiction will actually enforce. Denver adopted new building and fire codes on June 13, 2025, based on the 2024 International Building Code, with a transition period of about six months during which the 2022 or 2025 Denver Building Code could be used. Colorado Springs, Fountain and Monument each adopted the 2023 Pikes Peak Regional Building Code, which carries the 2021 International Building Code. Those two examples sit within a single state, and they are enough to show why we verify the edition for each parcel.
Energy code compliance follows the state's HB22-1362 requirements for any jurisdiction updating its code after July 1, 2023. We coordinate pre-application meetings, respond to plan review comments, and hold the review log so that every comment has a response and a drawing revision attached. Our permitting and entitlements coordination team supports the submittal when entitlement or rezoning is part of the path.
Buildings we design and build
Design-build suits repeatable, program-driven buildings: warehouses, cross-dock terminals, light manufacturing and flex space, and manufacturing plants with process utilities. It also suits park-scale development. Crossroads 25 in Thornton, a 76-acre, 1.1 million square foot, six-building industrial park at I-25 and E-470, shows the scale at which a repeatable design pays back across several buildings.
For buyers in advanced manufacturing, the value is in the process interface. We coordinate the utilities, the vibration or cleanliness criteria and the equipment pads with the equipment supplier's drawings, so the building is ready for the machine on the day it arrives.
How the contract protects the budget
A design-build contract fixes who owns design coordination, which removes the usual argument over whether a clash is a design error or a construction error. Cost drivers are stated up front: foundation system, structure type, utility interconnect, roof system, energy code measures and site paving. For each, we show the alternatives and the cost difference.
We list exclusions in plain language, such as utility company fees, owner-furnished equipment installation, and special inspection costs paid directly. A clean exclusion list is the first thing a corporate real estate team should ask any design-builder for, and we put ours on the first page of the proposal.
Services that sit inside the contract
A design-build scope usually draws on several of our other disciplines. Ground-up industrial construction covers the field work from pad to shell. Our estimators and planners handle procurement, and our commissioning lead writes the test plan while the drawings are still open.
Where the project is an expansion, we also bring phased construction on occupied sites, so that new work and live operations are separated by a written plan.
Bring the program, we bring the basis of design
Share your building program, your target production date and the parcel under consideration. We will return a basis of design draft and the first questions our engineers need answered.
Common Questions
Is design-build faster than design-bid-build for an industrial building?
Usually, because design and early procurement overlap, and because the builder's input on structure and systems shortens redesign loops. The gain depends on how settled your program is. If your requirements are changing, a design-build contract with a clear change control process still helps because the cost of each change is visible the week it is proposed.
Who is the engineer of record in a design-build project?
The structural, civil, mechanical, electrical and fire protection engineers are licensed professionals who stamp their own drawings. In design-build they are contracted through us or through the design lead, and their stamps are on the permit set the same as in any other delivery method. You can review each discipline's qualifications before award.
How do we keep control of the design if the builder leads?
Through the basis of design and the review gates. You approve the basis, you review the drawings at stated percentages of completion, and your operations team signs off on layouts that affect workflow. Nothing moves to construction documents without your written release.
What does a guaranteed maximum price depend on?
On the level of design at the time the price is set, the allowances listed, and the exclusions stated. A price set at a concept stage carries more contingency than one set at permit drawings. We show the contingency separately so you can see what is covered.