28 May 2021

Individuals holding Designated Design-Build Professional™ certifications have demonstrated mastery of best practices in design-build project delivery. They have met the requirements outlined on the following pages, including the successful completion of comprehensive DBIA Certification Exam. Through years of experience and hours of education, Chris Tobin has put in the time and work to become a Designated Design-Build Professional™.

Why did you pursue DBIA Certification?

I pursued the DBIA Certification because of the possibilities offered through Design-Build project delivery. The design-bid-build model is inherently siloed and can be adversarial, whereas a Design-Build system encourages collaboration, alignment of interests, and creative problem-solving. Many owners and institutions are choosing to use Design-Build delivery, and the projects being built with Design-Build are complex and interesting.

What advice do you have for others considering certification?

There are lots of great resources out there! The DBIA website has lots of primers and position papers that can give you an overview of the benefits of Design-Build, and they host events and jobsite tours (once COVID ends). If you want to learn more – take the certification class!

What benefits does Design-Build offer?

Design-Build offers many benefits to its stakeholders. For me (and others on the Design-Build Team), there is greater collaboration, more buy-in from key partners, and a greater sense of “having skin in the game”. The projects benefit from earlier input from trade partners, the ability to fast-track the schedule, and having incentives for multiple parties to work together to resolve issues. Owners benefit from having an earlier understanding of project costs, and by transferring much of the risk associated with design to the Design-Build Entity.