2026 Design-Build Workflow Study
We’re conducting a short industry research study to better understand how design-build teams are handling workflow fragmentation, owner communication, and cross-phase alignment. Share your experience in a 20–25 minute interview and receive a $50 Amazon gift card.
Design-build is expanding faster than the tools that support it.
At DBIA this year, one theme came up again and again: project information is scattered across too many systems, and teams are struggling to keep owners, estimators, VDC, project management, and field operations on the same page.
This study aims to capture how these challenges show up on real projects — not in theory, not in white papers, but in the day-to-day workflows of the people who live inside design-build delivery.
Participation is open to 2024 DBIA conference attendees and newly DBIA-certified professionals, as well as preconstruction, VDC, PM, PE, and owner-side practitioners across the industry.
Across project teams, we’ve consistently heard the same four issues:
Too many disconnected systems causing duplicate entry & misalignment
Procore, BIM tools, spreadsheets, shared drives, email, estimating systems — none of them talk to each other, forcing teams to re-enter the same information multiple times.
Owner visibility gaps leading to time-consuming manual reporting
PMs and project executives spend hours assembling summaries because the real story of the project lives across several platforms.
RFIs, submittals, and coordination slipping between tools
When attachments, discussion threads, and assignments are split across systems, handoffs get messy and things get missed.
Data not flowing between Precon, VDC, and Ops leading to decisions made on outdated info
Estimating quantities, model updates, production rates, and schedule logic often drift out of sync, slowing down decision-making during design and early construction. Your perspective on how these challenges show up inside your firm will help create a clearer picture of where design-build workflows need to evolve next.
We're looking for professionals involved in any part of the design-build lifecycle: