I am implementing a builder where in the deliverable is retrieved by calling Builder::getProduct() . The director asks various parts to build Builder::buildPartA() , Builder::buildPartB() etc. in order to completely build the product. My question is, once the product is delivered by the Builder by calling Builder::getProduct(), should it reset its environment (Builder::partA = NULL;, Builder::partB = NULL;) so that it is ready to build another product? (with same or different configuration?) I ask this as I am using PHP wherein the objects are by default passed by reference (nope, I don't want to clone them, as one of their field is a Resource) . However, even if you think from a language agnostic point of view, should the Builder reset its build environment ? If your answer is 'it depends on the case' what use cases would justify reseting the environment (and other way round) ? For the sake of providing code sample here's my Builder::gerProcessor() which shows what I mean by reseting the environment /** * @see IBuilder::getProessor() */ public function getProcessor() { if($this->_processor == NULL) { throw new LogicException('Processor not yet built!'); } else { $retval = $this->_processor; $this->_product = NULL, $this->_processor = NULL; } return $retval; }