Design-Build General Contractor in Houston, TX
One contract, one accountable party, and a price that is developed with the design instead of discovered after it.
In the traditional design-bid-build model, an owner hires a designer, waits for a complete set, then finds out what it costs. When the bids come back over budget — which is routine — the redesign happens at the owner’s expense and the schedule absorbs the delay.
Design-build collapses that. One contract covers design and construction, the builder is at the table while decisions are still cheap to change, and pricing develops alongside the drawings rather than arriving as a verdict on them.
It works best when the builder actually self-performs the work being priced, because then the estimate reflects real crew rates and real production, not a stack of subcontractor guesses.
What's included
Pre-construction
- Site selection and feasibility review
- Conceptual budgeting and cost modelling
- Constructability review
- Value engineering
- Schedule development and phasing
Engineering & design
- Civil engineering and site planning
- Surveying and layout
- MEP design coordination
- Structural coordination
- Utility and drainage design support
Permitting & delivery
- Permitting and regulatory affairs
- Agency and utility coordination
- Procurement and long-lead management
- Construction management
- Closeout, commissioning and turnover
Value engineering is cheapest before the drawings are done
Value engineering has a bad reputation because it usually arrives too late — after a set is complete and over budget, when the only moves left are downgrading finishes and deleting scope the owner wanted.
Done at the right time it is a different exercise entirely. Whether the building wants tilt-wall or a metal frame, whether the grading plan is fighting the site, whether a bay spacing change removes a foundation type — those decisions are nearly free while the design is still forming, and effectively impossible once it is issued.
Because we self-perform site work, concrete, structure and MEP, we can price those alternatives from our own historical production rather than sending them out for budget numbers.
Permitting is a schedule item, not a formality
Across Greater Houston, permitting and utility coordination routinely take longer than owners expect, and the requirements differ by jurisdiction — city, county, MUD, drainage district, and sometimes several at once on the same site.
Treating that as a scheduled activity with an owner rather than as paperwork that happens somewhere in the background is one of the more reliable ways to protect a delivery date. It also tends to surface the expensive surprises — detention requirements, utility capacity, driveway permits — while the site plan can still respond to them.
Our process
- Step 01
Feasibility
Site reviewed against the program: utilities, drainage, access, zoning and the constraints that decide whether a site works at all.
- Step 02
Concept & budget
Concept developed with a real budget attached, priced from our own production history for the scopes we self-perform.
- Step 03
Design & value engineering
Design advances with constructability and cost reviewed continuously, so alternatives are evaluated while they are still cheap.
- Step 04
Permitting
Permits and agency coordination run as scheduled activities with named dates and owners.
- Step 05
Construction
Self-performed across divisions, with one superintendent structure rather than a subcontractor relay.
- Step 06
Turnover
Commissioning, documentation, warranty and closeout.
Common questions
What is the difference between design-build and a general contractor?
A general contractor builds what someone else designed, usually after a competitive bid on a finished set. In design-build, one contract covers both — so the builder is involved while design decisions are still cheap to change, and the price develops with the drawings rather than arriving as a verdict on them.
Is design-build faster?
Usually, for two reasons: design and early construction activities can overlap, and the redesign cycle that follows an over-budget bid is largely avoided. The schedule benefit is real but it comes from sequencing, not from cutting steps.
Do you handle permitting?
Yes. Permitting and regulatory coordination are in scope and treated as scheduled activities. Greater Houston sites often sit under several jurisdictions at once — city, county, MUD, drainage district — and that is worth mapping early.
Can you give a budget before the design is finished?
Yes — that is the point of engaging early. Conceptual budgets get more accurate as design advances, and because we self-perform site work, concrete, structure and MEP, a large share of the estimate comes from our own production history rather than from placeholder allowances.
Related services
Site Work & Utilities
Water, sewer and storm, earthwork, detention, paving and fuel systems — the dirt-to-pad scope, self-performed.
Tilt-Wall Construction
Cast on site, lifted in days. Tilt-wall shells for warehouse, distribution and big-box commercial.
MEP
Mechanical, electrical and plumbing — power, panels, HVAC, plumbing infrastructure and fuel dispensers.
Need design-build in Houston?
Tell us about the project and we'll come back with a real scope and a real number.