_____ Failure: - Failure to transition from hard bid mentality. - Failure to make timely decisions. - Unrealistic expectations (Quality, Money, Time). - Scope creep. - Failure to COMMUNICATE.

_____ Failure: - Failure to transition from hard bid mentality. - Failure to make timely decisions. - Unrealistic expectations (Quality, Money, Time). - Scope creep. - Failure to COMMUNICATE.

• A. Contractor
• B. Owner
• C. Architect
• D. Project Manager

Answer: (B)

This item tests the owner's role in guiding a design-build project and preventing common failure patterns that derail scope, cost, and schedule. In design-build, the owner is the driver of the program, budget, and timeline, and must set clear expectations, make timely decisions, and maintain open communication with the design-builder and the team. When the owner clings to a hard bid mindset, they miss the integrated, collaborative approach that design-build relies on. Instead of defining performance and value and then working with the team to achieve them, they push for lowest cost up front, which undermines the process and leads to later compensating changes. Unrealistic expectations about quality, cost, or schedule place unsustainable pressure on the project and often translate into changes, rework, or disputes as the team tries to reconcile reality with those hopes. Scope creep typically arises when the owner does not lock a stable scope or fails to approve changes promptly, allowing ongoing adjustments that escalate cost and extend timelines. And when communication is weak or inconsistent, the team lacks a single source of truth, causing misaligned decisions and further drift from the project baseline. Because these failures originate from how the project is led—defining the program, protecting the baseline, and maintaining clear, consistent communication—the owner is the role most closely associated with them. The contractor, architect, and project manager all operate within the framework the owner establishes; their actions reflect the owner’s direction and clarity.

This item tests the owner's role in guiding a design-build project and preventing common failure patterns that derail scope, cost, and schedule. In design-build, the owner is the driver of the program, budget, and timeline, and must set clear expectations, make timely decisions, and maintain open communication with the design-builder and the team.

When the owner clings to a hard bid mindset, they miss the integrated, collaborative approach that design-build relies on. Instead of defining performance and value and then working with the team to achieve them, they push for lowest cost up front, which undermines the process and leads to later compensating changes. Unrealistic expectations about quality, cost, or schedule place unsustainable pressure on the project and often translate into changes, rework, or disputes as the team tries to reconcile reality with those hopes.

Scope creep typically arises when the owner does not lock a stable scope or fails to approve changes promptly, allowing ongoing adjustments that escalate cost and extend timelines. And when communication is weak or inconsistent, the team lacks a single source of truth, causing misaligned decisions and further drift from the project baseline.

Because these failures originate from how the project is led—defining the program, protecting the baseline, and maintaining clear, consistent communication—the owner is the role most closely associated with them. The contractor, architect, and project manager all operate within the framework the owner establishes; their actions reflect the owner’s direction and clarity.