What to Do When the Contractor is Asked to Become the Designer

Traditionally, the contractor’s primary role is to implement a design provided to it by the owner, which has typically used a professional design firm to prepare the plans and specifications which make up the design. The level of detail of those plans and specifications can vary widely, however, depending on the nature of the project, how much the owner was willing to spend on design services, and how much of the design could be finalized before construction commenced. As a result, in many cases, there are “design gaps”—areas of the design that either could have or should have been made more complete before the contactor was selected, or construction started.

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