During the design-build process, the contractor decides on design issues as well as cost, profit and timeliness issues. While the traditional method of building acquisition dissociates designers from the interests of contractors, design construction is not. For these reasons, it is considered that the design-build process is ill-suited to projects requiring complex designs for technical, programmatic or aesthetic purposes. If the designer/architect is „held“ by the construction company, he will probably never slip the envelope into the possible. The Belmont Learning Center has been a remarkable construction project, which has been the subject of much criticism, not only for excessive costs, but also for environmental issues. The scandal involved allegedly contaminated soils, resulting in significant delays and significant cost overruns. [21] In Los Angeles, District Attorney Steve Cooley, who reviewed the Los Angeles Unified School District Belmont Project, wrote a final investigation report published in March 2003. [22] This report concluded that the design-build process caused a number of problems related to the Belmont scandal: it concluded that the „design-build“ approach and the concept of „mixing“ together created controversies, uncertainty and complexity of the Belmont project, which contributed to increasing the project`s potential for failure. While the Belmont investigation cleared the Los Angeles Unified School of any criminal misconduct, the Task Force recommends strict oversight, including written minutes, an energetic inspector general`s office and other recommendations if it decides to continue using the design-build approach. During the period in question, former LAUSD Superintendent Ramon C. Cortines, in collaboration with the LAUSD Board of Education, of which Monica Garcia is president, actively attempted to reduce the position of Inspector General by 75% (compromise to 25%) Then he abducted Inspector General Jerry Thornton after conducting critical audits showing an abuse of construction funds.
[23] In March 2011, industry consultant ZweigWhite published „Design-Bid-Build meets the opposition.“ [11] They suggest that although bid-Build design „still has rules,“ the traditional approach loses its sympathy because „alternative methods of project preparation threaten the bid design construction model.“ Although the article does not specifically refer to the architect-led design-build approach, the article indicates that D/B already accounts for 27% of projects, according to its 2010 Project Management Survey, and states that design is sometimes compared to the Master Builder approach, one of the oldest forms of the construction process.