Delivery Methods
Design-Build
Design-Build represents the ultimate single-source solution for your construction project. Unlike traditional methods where you hire an architect separately from a builder, Design-Build unifies design and construction under one contract, one team, and one point of accountability. PENTA becomes your sole partner from concept through completion, collaborating with our in-house architects or trusted design partners to deliver your vision on time and within budget.
Advocate / Stakeholder Representation
In Design-Build, we serve as your advocate while leading the design team, balancing design creativity with budget reality. Our process begins with deep discovery, including stakeholder interviews and a thorough understanding of your operational requirements and cultural considerations. We treat your budget as a core design requirement, establishing target costs during programming and tracking them continuously as the design develops to ensure you are never surprised by a design you love but cannot afford.
Sole Point of Contact
Design-Build eliminates confusion by providing one phone call, one email, and one point of accountability for everything. A single Project Manager leads your project from the first conceptual meeting through final warranty service, meaning there are no handoffs between preconstruction and construction teams. Your Project Manager has complete project knowledge and the authority to make decisions, leading unified team meetings where everyone—from architects to trade contractors—hears the same information simultaneously.
This streamlined communication creates massive efficiencies, such as a consolidated RFI process that can reduce average response times from a traditional 5-7 days to less than 24 hours. Because we hold one contract for both design and construction, design errors, coordination issues, and schedule delays are PENTA’s responsibility to resolve, protecting you from the “gray area” disputes common in traditional delivery.
Fast-Tracked Project Execution
We compress your timeline by overlapping design and construction phases, starting to build while still designing without creating chaos. While architects are still developing concepts, we are already conducting geotechnical investigations, starting environmental due diligence, and ordering long-lead items. This parallel path approach can save nearly a year on large-scale projects compared to traditional design-bid-build timelines.
Procurement Management / Long-Lead Identification
Procurement strategy begins during design rather than after, allowing us to specify materials and equipment based on real-time market availability. We use weekly market intelligence to track pricing for steel, envelope systems, and MEP equipment, which directly informs our design decisions. This allows us to order critical long-lead items months earlier than traditional projects:
Chillers: Ordered at Schematic Design (saves 4-5 months)
Elevators: Ordered at Design Development (saves 3-4 months)
Generators: Ordered at Design Development (saves 3-4 months)
Custom Curtain Wall: Ordered at 65% CD (saves 2-3 months)
We leverage bulk purchasing power across our portfolio and implement just-in-time delivery to reduce site storage requirements and double-handling costs.
Permit Acquisition & Support
Design-Build streamlines permitting because our designers and permit expeditors work together from day one. Before design begins, we engage with building departments, fire marshals, and planning boards to understand local code interpretations and turnaround expectations. This intelligence ensures we don’t design a building that won’t permit.
We utilize a phased permit approach to start work months earlier, including:
Phase 1 – Site Permit: 30% Design
Phase 2 – Foundation Permit: 50% Design
Phase 3 – Shell Permit: 70% Design
Phase 4 – Interior Permit: 90% Design
Our team resolves code issues internally through internal reviews at the 35%, 65%, and 90% milestones before officials ever see the drawings.
Preconstruction Services
In Design-Build, preconstruction is not a separate phase; it is fully integrated into design development. Every design decision is informed by real-time cost estimating and construction expertise. We provide continuous budget tracking through every milestone—from programming to final construction documents—ensuring there are no surprises when drawings are complete.
If design trends exceed the budget at any milestone, we immediately workshop value engineering solutions such as alternative materials or design modifications that reduce quantities without compromising performance. Constructability reviews are embedded in the design process, where our superintendents and trade partners review drawings at 30%, 60%, and 90% completion to catch field installation issues while they are still on paper.
Safety & QA/QC Management
Fast-track schedules demand rigorous safety and quality programs. We update Job Hazard Analysis as scope evolves and engineer safety directly into the building structure, such as specifying tie-off points and safe equipment access during the design phase. Our quality advantage is rooted in designer accountability; because our team owns both design and construction, if a detail doesn’t work in the field, we fix both the design and the installation without finger-pointing.
We build full-scale mock-ups during design development to test envelope assemblies for water infiltration and review interior finishes in actual lighting conditions. This prevents costly field changes, as issues found during the mock-up phase cost thousands to fix, while those found after installation cost millions.
Transparent Project Reporting & Subcontractor Management
Transparency is greater in Design-Build because we control all information flow. You receive a unified weekly dashboard that combines design progress (milestone completion and RFI status), construction progress (percent complete and photos), and budget status (contingency tracking and forecasted costs). You see costs update in real-time through our open-book accounting, so you are never surprised by final costs.
We manage subcontractors through performance-based selection, balancing competitive pricing with experience, safety records, and workforce availability. Key subcontractors are engaged early during the design phase to review MEP coordination and envelope details, ensuring their expert input improves the design before bidding begins.
Close Out / Commissioning / Post-Construction Facility Management Support
Closeout is streamlined because the team who designed the building is the same team that built it and will commission it. Our engineers lead the commissioning process, verifying that the systems they designed work according to the sequence of operations. We commission progressively as systems come online, resolving issues while trades are still on-site rather than accumulating them on a final punch list.
Your facility team receives training directly from the designers, helping them understand not just “how” the systems work, but “why” they were designed that way. Our unified warranty service provides a single contact for any issue—whether design-related or construction-related—eliminating finger-pointing and delivering immediate solutions. This integrated approach typically completes closeout 20-30 days faster than traditional projects.