The design and build procurement route has witnessed significant growth in the UK construction industry over the last ten years. It is now being used for both private and public sector projects of varying complexity. There are several advantages associated with this method of construction procurement including shortening of lead times, involvement of the contractor in the design process, greater price certainty, improved communication and reduced construction time amongst others. Conversely, there are also a number of disadvantages ascribed to the design and build method of procurement. Some of these include reduced design quality, inhibition of changes by clients, and high tendering costs. A new process model is proposed to address many of the procurement route's present shortcomings. In particular, the model facilitates concurrent project development in the design and build process through the integration of all project participants into a multi-functional matrix team capable of resolving potential 'downstream' problems early in the project life-cycle, and the provision of a formal mechanism for the improved abstraction of client requirements based on design function deployment (DFD)- a concurrent engineering design system.
