Successful Progressive Design-Build depends on collaboration between the owner, design-build team and project stakeholders. But collaboration does not diminish the owner’s need for strong, independent representation. OCMI serves as an owner’s advisor throughout the Progressive Design-Build (PDB) lifecycle, helping owners establish the framework for successful delivery and providing the management and technical oversight needed to protect the project and their interests as the project progresses.
Our role begins well before the selection of the design-builder. OCMI helps owners evaluate and implement project delivery strategies, establish project requirements and budgets, develop procurement and contracting approaches, prepare RFQ/RFP documents, facilitate selection, define roles and decision-making processes, and establish appropriate risk allocation.
Once the PDB team is in place, OCMI serves as an extension of the owner’s staff through design, preconstruction, GMP development, construction, and close-out. We coordinate stakeholders and project teams; manage scope, design, schedule, budget, risk, and owner decisions; monitor permitting and approvals; evaluate phasing and early-work opportunities; support GMP negotiations; and provide construction management and contract administration through commissioning and turnover.
Independent cost and schedule management are integral to this role. As design progresses and the design-builder develops the project cost model and ultimately a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP), OCMI provides the owner with an objective, unbiased basis for evaluating scope, pricing, contingencies, escalation, schedule, and risk. This independent perspective supports informed decisions and an accurate GMP without compromising the collaboration that is central to PDB.
Our experience is grounded in implementing PDB on public-sector capital programs. Within the California State University system, where the progressive model is known as Collaborative Design-Build, OCMI has supported collaborative delivery for more than 15 years at SDSU, CSU San Marcos, and San José State University. OCMI has also helped public owners establish PDB programs from the ground up, including supporting the City of Chula Vista in developing its procurement approach and managing PDB projects from design-builder selection through construction and close-out.
This combination of PDB advisory, owner’s representation, project and construction management, and independent project controls allows OCMI to serve as a true owner advocate – aligning procurement, design, cost, schedule, risk, and project decisions while preserving the collaboration and innovation that make Progressive Design-Build effective.
