Traditional vs. Progressive Design-Build: Why GCs Are Rethinking Delivery in 2026

A few years ago, most small and mid-sized GCs didn't need to think hard about it. Design-build meant design-build. You took on both design and construction under one contract, you priced the work, you built it. But the market has changed, and the way projects are being delivered is changing with it. Progressive design-build — PDB — has gone from a niche approach used mostly on large infrastructure projects to a model that's showing up on commercial work of all sizes.