Leaving Landscape Irrigation to Design/Build: The Benefits and Pitfalls

Are you torn between hiring one firm for your landscape irrigation program or keeping design and build separate? While the streamlined design/build approach is appealing, it could cost you in ways you don’t expect.

At Evergreen Design Group, we’ve spent over 20 years helping clients evaluate their options. Here’s everything you need to know about design/build services, how they compare to hiring separate firms, and which of the two options delivers the long-term value your program needs.

What Are Design/Build Landscape Irrigation Services?

As the land developer, designer, or builder of a residential, commercial, or industrial property, you typically have two options for getting the landscape irrigation system designed and built. The first is to contact a landscape irrigation design consultant for the design (thus reaching out separately to irrigation installation contractors), and the second is to contact a company that can handle both the design and the installation of the landscape irrigation system (design/build).

• Design Only: With this approach, a dedicated landscape irrigation consultant drafts plans and designs your property’s landscaping according to your needs, wishes, and local regulations. Once the plans are drafted, you can contact one or multiple contractors and solicit bids to handle the construction process, selecting whichever makes the best offer.

   

• Combined design/build services: A design/build landscape irrigation company handles a property’s landscaping planning and construction stages. It will most likely be a firm that is focused on in the irrigation installation side of things, but can prepare landscape irrigation designs as an additional service.

With a design/build firm, you get a single team to oversee the entire process. They handle every phase without external contractors, from initial consultation to drafting land plans and managing the construction process.

While this approach can seem more convenient and beneficial than contracting with an irrigation consultant focused on landscape irrigation design as their primary service, we’ve broken down the pros and cons to help you understand what your program gets.

Potential Benefits of Design/Build Services

Integrated design/build services can offer many potential benefits and conveniences compared to contacting designers and builders separately.

Here’s an overview of the benefits of hiring a design/build team:

• Time savings. With one team managing the program from start to finish, you skip the delays of multi-firm coordination.
  
• Lower costs. A bundled team can reduce planning and execution costs—though not always.  Many design/build firms will communicate to you that should you allow them to perform both the design and the build portion of the project, they will provide the design for you at no additional cost.  Don’t be fooled with this, as many contractors simply roll the fee of the design into that of the construction costs – and since you are using them and them only, you have no way to verify if the construction costs are competitive or not.

   

• Simplified communication. One point of contact reduces miscommunication and change order issues.

   

• Design consistency. A unified team helps ensure the final product aligns with the original concept.

   

• All-in-one convenience. Enjoy a hands-off experience with fewer moving parts to manage.

Drawbacks and Pitfalls of Choosing a Design/Build Firm

Evergreen Design Group has provided landscape irrigation design and irrigation consulting for clients in over 40 states. Our 20 years of experience in the industry have allowed us to compare our approach to that of design/build firms. Here are the risks you should be aware of before choosing a design/build firm for your program:

• Limited design opportunities. Prioritizing practicality by working with a design/build firm can actually give you fewer options. In our experience, design/build firms often favor easy-to-execute irrigation plans over more detailed, advanced, or creative designs.

   

• Products Used:  Many landscape irrigation contractors will specify irrigation products in which they receive a greater pricing discount from their supplier, or one that offers them the most ‘rewards’ from specifying their products – not necessarily the best products for your project.

   

• Less competitive pricing. Choosing a design/build firm limits your pricing options. This approach prevents competitive bidding and can reduce your control over total program costs. With hiring an irrigation consultant, such as Evergreen Design Group, you choose the contractors and stay in control of your budget.

   

• Less oversight. Relying on the same team for planning, design, and construction can allow mistakes or flawed designs to go unnoticed until after installation. With Evergreen Design Group, our independent planning model allows us to make as many changes and revisions as needed before you give the green light to your contractors.

   

• Risk of program delays. Hiring a busy design/build firm that is juggling multiple clients risks introducing delays. They may lack the resources to meet your program’s deadlines.

   

• Dependence on the firm’s expertise. Rely on a design/build firm’s skill and reputation to drive your program’s success—mistakes at any stage can compromise the final outcome.
  

Reach Out to a Professional Landscape Irrigation Designers 

Design/build firms promise speed and simplicity, sometimes at the cost of quality and oversight. At Evergreen Design Group, we do things differently. Our expert planning lets you control the construction phase, so you can choose contractors, protect your budget, and ensure long-term success.

As a single-source landscape architecture and consulting team, we provide the planning and program management expertise your residential, commercial, civic, or industrial program needs. Our focus is design-bid-build services, allowing you to choose the best contractors to execute the build.

We have more than 20 years of experience providing irrigation design services and managing landscaping programs in over 40 states. Contact our offices today to discuss your next program with us.