Practice Management Member Conversations

Hi

I'm a person who worked in small scale projects. In an architect - client project encounter, I have noticed that the clients tend to be a kind of disoriented in these project by factors such as initiating immediate work revisions, change of specifications and detailing, rushing to deadlines and many more where one party argument is unheard by the other, how realistic the situation may be. This creates what I like to call the 'work conflict of interest' between the client and architect. It will be appreciated if anyone could share a few views on this if this issue is addressed as a lack of project Management. 

Thank you

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Jasson Johny, Assoc. AIA
Design Projects Manager
First & Best Constructions
P. O. Box 2399
Manama
Kingdom of Bahrain

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I is very important before starting any project with a client that you clearly define expectations and the project delivery process as well as project risks.  This would include a defining the scope of work in your proposal as to what will be accomplished at each phase of the project, project meetings, client reviews and deliverables.  When comments come back from reviews it is up to the architect to assess if there are any changes in scope that would require additional services.

Part of the scope of work would include what is completed at each phase, such as at the end of schematic design, the floor plan, building elevations, building section, typical wall section and exterior finishes.  If the client makes changes after that point than you will have to review with them the impact these changes will have on the scope, schedule, budget and fee for the project.

It really does not matter how small the project is, once the scope, schedule, budget and fee are set, any change made by the client requires a discussion with the client on the  impact this has on the project.  If time is of the essence than before a project starts, there should be a serious discussion about managing the risks of the project and how they will be addressed when they occur.

I have work on projects in Saudi Arabia and know that the approval process of moving from one phase to the next can be challenging.  That said, the client is an active member of the project with specific roles and responsibilities to the process.  Communication about the process and the potential challenges is critical before you start a project.  If you are in the middle, it may be worth while to get the critical people involved in the project and have a meeting to discuss a plan for addressing current issues and future ones so that the project can be delivered.



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Peter Leoschke AIA
Mead & Hunt Inc
Madison WI
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Dear Peter,

Thank you for sharing your insight especially in having worked with projects in KSA. To give my perspective in this, Bahrain is an open construction market where majority of the medium large scale projects involve various scheduled and unscheduled stakeholders which are chained to various government depts such as the works ministry, civil defence, communication dept, and many more which further dominate on these project stakeholders very much which makes the client very much rushy and disoriented, if expected in between the project run for that matter. So signing a basic project kickoff contract terms with the client and addressing the above problems and risks cannot fully calm the client because at the end of the day the client only cares of the money he puts into and this makes the designer (consultant) fully accountable. Secondly, the project faces various fragmentation issues at different stages of the project run. Majority of the construction projects are completed as a race to finish works irrespective of organisational structure or methods used. I feel the construction industry faces a great threat of blame culture too. 



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Jasson Johny, Assoc. AIA
Design Projects Manager
First & Best Constructions
P. O. Box 2399
Manama
Kingdom of Bahrain

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Original Message:
Sent: 02-25-2013 17:52
From: Peter Leoschke
Subject: Work conflict of interest

I is very important before starting any project with a client that you clearly define expectations and the project delivery process as well as project risks.  This would include a defining the scope of work in your proposal as to what will be accomplished at each phase of the project, project meetings, client reviews and deliverables.  When comments come back from reviews it is up to the architect to assess if there are any changes in scope that would require additional services.

Part of the scope of work would include what is completed at each phase, such as at the end of schematic design, the floor plan, building elevations, building section, typical wall section and exterior finishes.  If the client makes changes after that point than you will have to review with them the impact these changes will have on the scope, schedule, budget and fee for the project.

It really does not matter how small the project is, once the scope, schedule, budget and fee are set, any change made by the client requires a discussion with the client on the  impact this has on the project.  If time is of the essence than before a project starts, there should be a serious discussion about managing the risks of the project and how they will be addressed when they occur.

I have work on projects in Saudi Arabia and know that the approval process of moving from one phase to the next can be challenging.  That said, the client is an active member of the project with specific roles and responsibilities to the process.  Communication about the process and the potential challenges is critical before you start a project.  If you are in the middle, it may be worth while to get the critical people involved in the project and have a meeting to discuss a plan for addressing current issues and future ones so that the project can be delivered.



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Peter Leoschke AIA
Mead & Hunt Inc
Madison WI
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