More marina owners and developers are choosing design/build contracting to build or rebuild their marinas. Just like on-shore construction, this method is fast becoming the standard among successful marina developers. Here’s why: experienced design/build marina companies have strong working relationships with engineers, architects, and other consultants who specialize in marina design and operations.
Why Use Outside Consultants Instead of In-House Staff?
This consultant network brings marina design expertise across many locations. The best project teams are built from outside consultants rather than in-house staff, because that approach:
- Gives the contractor and owner third-party designs and opinions, removing any conflict of interest between what’s good for the contractor and what’s good for the owner
- Provides independent professional liability insurance for both the owner and the contractor
- Keeps the design function a variable cost, so contractor pricing stays competitive and design costs are assessed fairly per project
The Value of a Third-Party Design/Build Approach
The third-party design/build approach delivers the greatest value to marina owners. Once the project team is in place, the marina company coordinates every activity to keep the design timely and efficient. The close working relationship between the marina company and its consultants creates real savings and benefits for customers, including:
- Lower initial soft costs thanks to a streamlined design process
- A more efficient project design that creates greater economic value
- Reduced overall project completion time
- Lower owner risk through single-source responsibility
Why Soft Costs Come In Lower
The marina company’s consultants know its manufacturing and construction procedures, quality assurance programs, and purchasing power inside and out. That means they can get straight to the engineering issues, without the extra work a typical bid-type design requires. A few pages of design information can become a full set of stamped shop drawings ready for building permits — work that would otherwise take an engineer many hours to produce.
Design Standards Already Built In
Material quality, production tolerances, assembly methods, ASTM standards, and testing requirements are already established. A large library of previously designed components from past projects can be reused with little extra effort. At the same time, third-party professionals still oversee the whole project, making sure any site-specific issues get the new design work they need.
Why Hard Costs Come In Lower Too
Hard costs drop because the consultants already understand the marina company’s manufacturing and construction capabilities. Proprietary formwork, equipment, and plant capabilities all factor into the design from the start. Without that knowledge, many designs rely on calculations alone and miss the efficiencies of existing forms, jigs, and other tools — a gap that can add cost to a project without adding value for the owner.
Faster Completion, Lower Risk
Design/build shortens the overall project timeline because the streamlined engineering process reduces design time. Familiarity with key schedule issues, like long-lead-time components, helps too: teams can order these components early, sequence engineering to match manufacturing and construction, and phase the project for partial occupancy when possible. Owner risk drops as well, since the marina company holds sole-source responsibility for the project. Conflicts between design, manufacturing, and construction are minimized or eliminated, and the marina company — not the owner — coordinates the many disciplines and systems a modern marina requires.
How to Evaluate a Design/Build Marina Contractor
You can verify that design/build pricing is competitive by looking at the marina company’s track record. Before you commit:
- Check references
- Visit project sites
- Talk to other MOAA members who have worked with the contractor
Today, design/build contracting is the preferred method for most non-municipal customers, and a growing number of municipal customers as well.
January 3, 2003
Written by: Everett Babbitt, President
Phillip A. Greenman, Executive Vice President
Bellingham Marine Industries
PO Box 8
Bellingham, WA 98227
Phone: 1-800-733-5679
Email: bmi@bellingham-marine.com
Website: www.bellingham-marine.com
Bellingham Marine designs, manufactures and installs Unifloat floating dock systems, Unideck fresh water systems and Unistack dry storage buildings.
Contact Bellingham Marine, P.O. Box 8, Bellingham, WA 98227. www.bellingham-marine.com. Unifloat, Unideck and Unistack are registered trademarks of Bellingham Marine.
