Design-Build

Arizona defines the term in statute. A.R.S. 34-101, the definitions section for public construction procurement, describes design-build as a method in which "there is a single contract for design services and construction services." Private custom homes borrow the structure without the public bidding rules. You sign one agreement, and the party behind it owns both the plans and the house.

One contract changes who answers for what. If a window detail leaks, there is no argument over whether the drawing was wrong or the installation was. The same entity is on the hook either way, which is what single point of accountability means. The phases also overlap. The team can price the truss package while interior selections are still open, and grading can start before the last elevation is final. That overlap often pulls weeks off the calendar.

The construction half still needs its own credential. A.R.S. 32-1102 sorts Arizona contractor licenses into classes, among them general residential contracting and general dual licensed contracting. A design firm cannot simply extend its scope into building. Whoever signs must hold, or partner with a holder of, the right ROC class for residential work. Check the contractor's license number on the contract, not the marketing page.

The trade-off is pricing pressure. You choose the builder before finished drawings exist, so there is no plan set to send to three general contractors for competing numbers. You buy on reputation, past work, and a transparent fee. For example, a Fountain Hills owner who hires a design-build team in January gets one contract and an earlier start, and never learns what two other builders would have charged.

Design-build differs from design-bid-build, where an architect finishes the drawings under one agreement and a separate contractor builds them under another. Before signing, ask how the design fee is separated, so you know what you owe if you like the plans but not the price.