Design-Build Process
Updated September 2026
The difference is who owns the decisions between the first sketch and the last inspection. A side-by-side table of the two models, when each one fits, what design-build doesn’t fix, and how Built by Design actually runs a project.
9 min read
Written by Mike Schwartz, Built by Design | Published May 4, 2026
Design-build and general contracting are two ways of organizing the same work. Under a general contractor, you (or a designer or architect you hire) produce the design, then contractors bid on it and one of them builds it. Under design-build, one company owns the design, the pricing, the selections, and the construction, and the same people are accountable from the first sketch to the final inspection.
Neither is automatically better. The right answer depends on how many decisions your project has, how much of the house it touches, and how much coordinating you want to do yourself. This guide lays the two side by side, says when each fits, and shows how Built by Design runs the design-build version on a real project.
If you’re comparing contractors, pair this with the questions to ask before hiring a remodeler and what a fixed-bid contract actually covers.
Design-bid-build is the traditional path. You hire a designer or architect (or draw it yourself), produce a set of plans, send those plans to two or three general contractors, and hire one to build them. The designer works for you; the contractor works from the plans. When the plans and the budget disagree, you're in the middle. Design-build puts design and construction under one contract. The company's designer and its construction lead work on the same scope from the first visit, so layout, structure, selections, and cost are settled together. You get one point of contact, one written scope, and one price tied to that scope. The trade-off is that you're choosing the builder before the design exists, so you're choosing on process and track record rather than on a bid for a finished drawing.
The table is the fastest way to see the difference. Read it as a list of things someone has to own on every remodel; the model decides who.
| Responsibility | General contractor (design-bid-build) | Design-build |
|---|---|---|
| Design and drawings | You, or a designer you hire separately | The design-builder’s designer, on the same team as the builder |
| Feasibility of the design | Discovered at bid time, or during construction | Checked while designing: structure, mechanicals, and cost together |
| Pricing | Competitive bids on finished plans | One price built with the design, before construction |
| Selections (cabinets, tile, fixtures) | Allowances in the bid; you choose later, often alone | Chosen with the designer inside the scope, before the price is final |
| Permits and inspections | Contractor pulls them; drawing revisions go back to the designer | Design-builder prepares drawings, applies, and schedules inspections |
| Schedule | Contractor’s, after the design is done | One schedule from design through closeout |
| Changes and concealed conditions | Change orders negotiated between you, the designer, and the contractor | Documented by the same team that priced the scope |
| When drawings and budget disagree | You referee | The design-builder redesigns to the budget |
| Accountability | Split between designer and builder | One company |
Design-build earns its keep when decisions are connected. A kitchen that opens a wall touches structure, electrical, flooring, and lighting at once. A basement with a bar and a bathroom is a plumbing plan before it's a cabinet plan. An addition has to tie into the existing roof, floor, and kitchen. On projects like those, a drawing made without the builder in the room tends to come back from bidding with a price that doesn't match, and the redesign costs weeks. A general contractor with your own drawings fits when the design is genuinely done and simple: a bathroom that keeps every fixture in place, a deck, a roof. It also fits when you already have an architect you trust and want three bids on the same set of plans. The cost of that path is your time: you coordinate the designer, the bids, and the changes.
| Your project | Better fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen that moves walls, plumbing, or the island | Design-build | Structure, services, and cost have to be settled together |
| Basement finish with a bar, bathroom, or bedroom | Design-build | Drains, egress, and headroom shape the layout |
| Addition or second story | Design-build | Roof, foundation, and the connection to existing rooms are one problem |
| Kitchen and two bathrooms in one project | Design-build | Sequencing which rooms stay usable is a planning decision |
| Bathroom refresh, fixtures in place | Either | Simple scope; bids on a fixed plan work |
| You already have finished architect’s drawings | General contractor | Bid the plans you have |
| Exterior-only work (roof, siding, deck) | General contractor or specialty trade | Little design coordination needed |
Design-build changes who manages problems; it doesn't remove them. Cabinets and windows still have lead times. Cities still take time to review plans, and inspections still gate the next trade. A wall still hides rot or an undersized beam until it's opened. Selections still stall when a household can't decide. A good design-builder puts all of those on the schedule and tells you when they move; it can't make them disappear. It also doesn't replace your judgment about the company. "Design-build" is a delivery method, not a certification. A firm can use the phrase and still run the design and the construction as separate departments that don't talk. The questions in the last section are how you tell the difference.
See also: Why remodels take longer than planned, and what prevents it
Built by Design is a family-owned design-build remodeler in Overland Park, established in 2004. Kristen Schwartz leads interior design and selections; Mike Schwartz runs construction, project management, and operations. On every documented project on this site the sequence is the same. First, an in-home visit. Mike and Kristen walk the rooms in question, and the lot if an addition or outdoor room is on the table. Second, one written scope: layout, structure, selections, and the construction path in one document, priced before finishes are chosen. Third, the permit path: BBD prepares the drawings the city asks for, applies as the licensed contractor, and puts inspection dates on the schedule. Fourth, construction with the trade partners named in each case study; every published project lists SVB Wood Floors, ASMI Surfaces, and RockTops among them. Recorded construction on those projects ran 9 to 16 weeks, with design, permitting, and lead times ahead of it.
Ask these of any remodeler, design-build or not. The answers tell you whether the model on the brochure is the model on the job site.
See also: The full list: what to ask before hiring a remodeler
Built by Design meets homeowners at the home, writes one scope before finishes are chosen, and builds with the same trade partners named in the case studies above.
FAQAnswers, by design
The questions homeowners ask when comparing design-build to a general contractor, answered plainly, with how Built by Design runs the design-build version.
One company owns the design, the pricing, the selections, the permits, and the construction under one contract, so the same team is accountable from the first sketch to the final inspection. In the traditional model, you hire a designer, then bid the finished plans to contractors, and you coordinate between them.
Not inherently. You pay for design either way, and design-build folds it into one scope instead of a separate designer’s fee plus a contractor’s bid. What changes is when the price is known: design-build sets it with the design, so a plan that can’t be built at the budget gets redesigned before construction instead of re-bid after.
You should, and it’s worth asking. At Built by Design, Kristen Schwartz leads interior design and selections and works on the same scope as the construction team. A design-build firm that treats design as a sketch before the bid is using the label without the model.
When the design is finished and simple, when you already have an architect you trust and want competitive bids on the same plans, or for exterior and single-trade work like roofing or a deck. The cost of that path is your time coordinating the designer, the bids, and the changes.
It makes scope changes visible, because the team that priced the scope is the team documenting the change. It doesn’t prevent concealed conditions or a household changing its mind; it means those get priced and scheduled by the same people, in writing, rather than negotiated between a designer and a builder.
The design-builder, for both the design and the construction. Under the traditional model, a problem can sit between the designer and the contractor, with each pointing at the other. Under design-build there is one contract and one company to hold to it.
Keep planning with these related guides.
Design-Build Process
Fifteen questions, what a good answer sounds like, and the short brief to bring to the first meeting. Written for homeowners in Johnson County who want fewer surprises once the walls are open.
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Budget & Costs
“Fixed price” fixes the price of the scope on paper, not of the wall nobody has opened yet. Here's what the number covers, what allowances and change orders do to it, and the clauses to read before signing.
9 min read
Whole-Home Remodeling
Two clocks run on every remodel: the months of design, selections, and permits before the first hammer, and the 9 to 16 weeks of construction BBD’s recorded projects took. Here’s what happens in each phase, what can overlap, and why BBD’s whole-home projects start at $400,000.
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