Timeline of a Design-Build Project, Step by Step
A design-build timeline breaks into five phases, and each one has a realistic duration that most first-time clients underestimate. Schematic design — site analysis, initial concepts, budget alignment — typically runs four to eight weeks for a residential project, longer for anything with more stakeholders or a more complex site.
Design development follows, turning the approved concept into detailed drawings: floor plans, elevations, structural coordination, material selections. This phase usually takes six to twelve weeks, and it's where most scope changes should happen, because they're still cheap here. The same change made during construction can cost five to ten times more.
Permitting runs partly in parallel with the later stages of design development, since complete drawings are required before submission. Depending on the region, PBG approval can take anywhere from three weeks to three months — a variable most schedules underestimate because it's outside the design team's direct control.
Construction itself is the longest phase, typically eight to eighteen months for a house depending on size and complexity, followed by a shorter handover period for finishing, inspection and the SLF certification. Projects that stay closest to their original schedule are almost always the ones that spent more time in design development and less time making decisions on site.