A best practice resource for FE property
Executive Summary
This document is not intended as a step-by-step guide on how to manage a building project. There are lots of publications explaining the process in detail (some of these are identified in the text) and the professional team will also provide expert guidance through each stage of the project. The focus of this guide is on good leadership and so will be of most use to college principals and senior members of their team who are to take key roles in the project.
Highly involved and informed clients have always obtained the best service and performance from the construction industry and this document explains how a committed client can transform the outcome of a project – creating an excellent building that will also capture the college’s aspirations.
It covers all stages of a project from first thoughts about the need for a project to the completed project in use.
Principal Author; Carol Lelliot.
Preparation
The first kind of preparation is about establishing a clear vision which may encompass ideas about the learning environment, the brand/ethos of the College, the future direction of the College and other qualitative aspects that need to be implicit in the design. A shared vision is extremely powerful because stakeholders are much more committed to helping achieve a successful project and using the building in the way it is designed if they contribute to the design process. A clear and project specific vision is also invaluable for the design team.
“Don’t underestimate just how many of your colleagues seem comfortable with draughty, leaking classrooms, dodgy IT systems, degrading concrete and the like. It’s what they know, they cope, they compromise and they are successful. They won’t relish change and have little time to imagine what they might achieve in a different environment, one that was aspirational and inspiring and worked. It can take a while firstly persuading them that the Principal is not delusional, and secondly, to feel confident enough to contribute to the shaping of the vision. Taking that time will certainly pay dividends.”
Lynne Morris,
Ex Principal Joseph Chamberlain College
Organising visits to other colleges or participating in external workshops/conferences to explore the potential for your own project can help raise aspiration – avoiding new and shiny versions of existing facilities – and establish benchmarks. Keep scrapbooks of these visits and use them to help brief your design team. Try to develop a critical eye – looking beyond superficial things like décor and finishes to understand what makes a successful space or learning setting. Don’t forget to look at furniture and ICT too – these will have important implications for flexibility and adaptability.
Workshops to explore key issues – particularly if they affect a large number of users such as the educational environment or the IT strategy – can help clarify the brief you will give to the design team and an investment of time in the preparation stages will help with decision-making later as priorities and direction will be established. Building consensus about the schedule of accommodation required can also help manage potential “empire building” by departments considering new space.
Good leadership is essential for creating the kind of culture that will allow a strong, shared vision to emerge. A climate of receptiveness and openness – a no blame culture – is essential for innovative thinking and outcome.
Ensuring there is enough time for staff and the in house project team to develop ideas and follow them through together is essential – think about using the workshops and visits as team building activities as well as good brief preparation. It may be a good idea to create other opportunities too – social events can be useful if team members have not worked together before.
Because thinking about a new building can be exciting, it is easy for everyone to forget that is simply a means to an end. One of the most important tasks for the College Principal will be to continually bring everyone back to the core objectives – to ensure that the vision is kept in focus at all times.
“If we get into the new building and the only thing that’s changed is that we can smell the paint, we’ve got it wrong”.
Mike Galloway, Ex Principal of York College to his team on the transformative potential of a project
Once the vision is established it will need to be distilled into a series of defined specific requirements that can be easily communicated to staff, students, governors and other stakeholders so that everyone has the opportunity to debate and buy into them – nipping in the bud any potential for “back-defending”.
Such pragmatic requirements will include an accommodation schedule together with desired outcomes like the degrees of flexibility/ future-proofing required, types of learning environments, ICT strategies and improved passive supervision and transparency.
Various documents written by CABE – the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment – which are still available online are very good at explaining how to put a good brief together and involve stakeholders. In particular “Creating Excellent Buildings: A guide for Clients” which was published in 2003.
Think about how the Project Team and Project Champion will interface with existing College governance and set up a reporting procedure for the governors too.
There are enormous benefits in following what is known as a “Soft Landings” approach to ensure that the project meets all client expectations in use – especially those to do with building performance. A document produced by BSRIA “How to Procure Soft Landings” explains the approach and the Project Champion would be heavily involved in implementing this.
The role is extremely demanding and so other work responsibilities will need to be suspended or at least significantly reduced. Consistency is also key and so the role is not easily shared.
“Choosing the Project Champion is key to a successful project. They will guard the vision of the college, scrutinise costs and ensure that progress, and the excitement is communicated to students, staff and governors. You need someone who has the college under their skin, and that means ethos and curriculum offer. It also helps if they can understand a plan and know how space impacts on the behaviour of the users, both students and staff. They need to be both a caretaker and a dreamer.”
Lynne Morris,
Ex Principal Joseph Chamberlain College
As the design process develops it will be necessary to separate the contributing client team into groups that are involved in consultation to help build the brief or sign off the design of a particular area or element and the client team that is responsible for overall decision making – a proper steering group.
Effective and informed decision-making is key to a successful outcome and will help the design team to make good progress so the steering group needs to be a small, carefully chosen executive group with a spread of relevant expertise which will include someone with a good grasp of the funding strategy.
Design
Before starting the process be clear about where the College’s priorities lie between these three variables. For example, it is unrealistic to expect a superfast delivery to be high quality and cheap. However sufficient design time can allow a team time to develop a simple but high quality result that represents good value. Share your budget and programme constraints at the first opportunity and explore these priorities with the team.
It is helpful to become familiar with the most commonly used set of project stages which are those set by the RIBA. The RIBA offers an interactive toolbox which can be used to plan a project and define tasks and outputs for each stage. It is also a useful step by step guide to the whole process. The RIBA Plan of Work 2013 is a hardcopy version of the guidance.
RIBA Plan of Work 2013
Stage 0 Strategic Definition
Stage 1 Preparation and Brief
Stage 2 Concept Design
Stage 3 Developed Design
Stage 4 Technical Design
Stage 5 Construction
Stage 6 Handover and Close Out
Stage 7 In Use
Set project milestones for each stage of the design .Link these milestones to the project review process you have set up and the funding timetable and the College’s governance approvals process so the project progress is not undermined by an out of synch decision making process. For large projects it may be necessary to set up separate and parallel governor approval processes to avoid the project overwhelming the normal annual governance cycle. The project programme also needs to identify key targets and periods for consulting with outside agencies such as planners or outside stakeholders such as neighbours or local businesses involved in the project.
It is also essential to think about the risks to a project before initiating the design process and then to review these risks at each project stage as some are designed/managed out and others emerge. The professional team will lead this process and make their own contributions but it is important that the College identify their own issues and share these with the wider team.
Good communication is key to the success of any project and a communications strategy should be set up that that is clear, open but managed so that there is not information overload. The College’s Project Champion will be a key figure in acting as a channel of communication between the team and the College. Regular, clear, structured and comprehensive communication with both internal and external stakeholders is vital including a clear timetable of which decisions are going to be taken (have been taken) by when and by whom.
Managing consultation with college personnel
Ask the design team to produce a consultation plan that identifies which client team groups need to be involved in helping to develop the design at each stage.
With this information the College will be able to make its own staff available at the right time. Consultations will need to be repeated as the design progresses and the level of detail of the information increases and consultations move from simple briefing to considering options and proposals. It is helpful if the design team identify well in advance the kind of information they require so that staff can prepare for meetings with confidence. Ideally, the Project Champion should attend most of these meetings so that they are as productive as possible and the College’s overarching objectives kept to the forefront. A key task of the Project Champion during this phase is expectation management to avoid sessions degenerating into wish lists and to set an ambitious but realistic tone from the outset.
The consultation plan also needs to identify when the Project Steering Group needs to meet in order to receive feedback from the consultations and to take the necessary decisions to keep the project on track. Clearly this needs to be related to the project milestones on the main programme and the formal project review process.
It is a good idea to share the developing design with everyone at key stages – presentations and exhibitions are an excellent way to do this but require significant effort by the design team if they are to be useful and so these need to be identified well in advance and the format and output agreed with the team. Similarly contributions and updates to the College intranet need to be considered.
Keeping neighbours and the immediate community informed and involved from an early stage is helpful. It is best if this is done directly but dedicating a section on the College website to new projects and keeping it up to date is useful for prospective students as well as local people and businesses – some of whom may be project partners.
If the design team are to be involved in external consultations or presentations it is beneficial for the college to demonstrate support for the proposals by attending events and helping with any local politics.
“Developing a clear and simple narrative about the wider benefits of the project for the whole community and taking every opportunity to meet with politicians, employers, neighbours and the general public individually and in groups before, during and after the build is vital. Apart from the obvious benefits such as preparing the ground for planning approvals and enabling neighbours to plan for any unavoidable disruption, you can build a strong network of influential advocates for the project who will feel a degree of involvement, ownership and pride in what is being achieved by and for their community. It’s the Principal who needs to front this if it’s to have credibility.”
Mike Galloway
Ex Principal of York College
It is therefore essential that the communication tools used are as clear and as user friendly as possible. Encourage the design team to use 3D techniques such as sketch models, simple visualisations or even fly-throughs to provide decision makers with a full understanding of proposals.
In the intense focus on the specific needs of the current building design, the overall context of the project should not be forgotten and the emerging design should be tested against how it might fit with any future plans for the site. Similarly the possible extension future adaptation of the building and its services should be considered. Thinking about flexibility and adaptability of the designed spaces may also make the building more efficient in use.
Once a preferred design strategy has been adopted the design process is essentially one of continual refinement and increasing detail so that ultimately it will be able to be used as a basis for construction. The design needs to be continually monitored against the project objectives and the cost plan for the project.
It is important to record the brief and the decisions made as the design progresses. It is usual for the emerging designs to be captured in a formal report at the end of each stage. Each report will need to be accompanied by a suitably detailed cost analysis.
Time should be allowed for preparing, distributing and signing off these design and cost reports and the College will need to identify who should be involved in the process.
Managing Costs
Initially cost advice will be approximate – based on relevant benchmarks and costs per square metre – which will allow overall budgets to be fixed and comparisons to be made between options. The design team will primarily refer to construction costs but the College will need an overall project cost that encompasses all fees, contingencies, FF&E, IT/AV and relocation/moving expenses. These will need inflation indices too.
Select a cost adviser who is proactive and prepared to help the design team develop the design to cost plan targets as well as simply reporting on emerging costs. Ensure they will advise the College on costs in use too so that informed comparisons can be made between options that have high capital cost but lower running cost and vice versa. Be prepared to challenge any aspects of the cost plan and its relationship to the design you do not understand. Insist on regular cost reporting so that there are no nasty surprises that occur too late for them to be managed properly within the programme.
Ensure that the College also has reliable advice on VAT as it can make an enormous difference to the funds available to spend.
Be clear about the brief. Identify ‘core objectives’ that are fundamental, ‘nice to haves‘ – desirable but not essential and ‘bonus’ items which would be great, but might be added later.
Try to avoid discussions on cost in isolation from the design, constraints, brief etc, as the cost is a function of all these factors. Where costs are under pressure seek options for achieving the overall objectives at lower cost.
As the design progresses and both the proposals and the cost plan become more detailed, changes in the brief or design direction are likely to lead to increased costs. Good management of the early design stages to ensure that all requirements are captured at the right stage and consistency of leadership throughout the process are therefore imperative for achieving budget targets. Staff need to be discouraged from changing requirements and newly appointed staff should not be allowed to revisit the designs agreed by their predecessors unless there are compelling reasons.
At an appropriate stage (the exact point will be determined by the form of procurement) the design will need to be “frozen” to allow the professional team to complete the detailed technical design and produce the information needed for construction. Any changes made to the design after this stage need to be managed carefully through a formal “change control process” to minimize the impact on cost and programme.
The design team should not be authorised to proceed to the next project stage at any time without all outstanding cost issues being fully resolved.
Value engineering is a process for testing choices and specifications to ensure that money is spent wisely and to best effect it does not necessarily mean cost cutting and is best done as part of the design process through the proper evaluation of design alternatives against the available budget. It is often used as a euphemism for cost cutting at the end of a design stage or after a tender when aspirations and budget have to be reconciled in haste in order to maintain progress. If this does need to happen – and it may be because of unforeseen circumstances such as a change in the economic climate – it is important that the College’s priorities prevail. Ensure that a clear list of possible savings is drawn up and the implications of each explained to the College. This can be a time when it is helpful to refer to the original vision and the principal project objectives. When alterations are made remember to communicate these and the reasoning behind the changes back to those who have been involved in the consultation process so that there are no surprises or disappointments that will undermine a positive reception of the building when it opens.
The Programme
Identify all critical dates and share these with the team. The Project Manager or Lead Consultant will help develop an overall programme. If the project is to be fast-track to achieve funding or a critical occupation date ensure that there is sufficient contingency in the programme.
Ideally there should be sufficient time for proper design development. The more fully worked through the design, the more accurate the cost plan will be. The more thoroughly the design is developed with users the less likely there will be costly late changes. Similarly fuller and more coordinated design information will lead to a more reliable tender and fewer mistakes on site. Adequate design time is one of the major factors in achieving quality – whatever the budget. Try to find ways to ensure there is adequate time for design, consultation and review in the early stages but ensure the time is focused and well spent.
The initial programme may assume that design stops whilst planning or other consents are sought. The College may wish to review this as part of their risk strategy if consultations with the relevant authorities go well.
Factor into the programme vacation periods when college staff may not be present for consultation and decision-making as this can have a significant effect on the useful progress the team can make.
Factor in post construction activities such as ICT and FF&E installations as well as plans for moving. The use of legacy FF&E may also impact on the programme.
The commissioning of the building (the fine tuning of the building services systems and controls) is a long and complex process that needs to start well in advance of handover. It is a common source of problems in use and so adequate time needs to be clearly identified for this within the construction programme.
Construction
Opportunities include sod-cutting, topping out and project handovers/completion ceremonies. But most important of all don’t forget to celebrate a successful project with a really good party.
As completion nears, the pressure on time intensifies considerably as often the consequences of not achieving handover are serious. One of the benefits of a “soft landings approach” will be that the handover process is something that will have been planned for and managed from the earliest stages but even so, completion can still be an anxious time.
Ideally the Contractor will have produced a specific finshing programme complete with a coordinated handover plan well in advance of the completion date. Regularly monitor progress against it to keep a focus on the target date and stay in close touch with Director -particularly if things start to slip. Encourage the Contractor to be realistic and open about progress rather than overly reassuring. Good communication is key as it allows time for management strategies to be agreed and put in place should they become necessary.
Nearer completion insist on proper training for your technical staff and also sessions for ordinary users on how to use the building and get best out of the design. Research into the performance gap between the predicted energy use of a building and actual performance in use shows that the building not being used as designed is a key issue. Managing expectation will also affect how well the building is received and users are more likely to tolerate or help with the inevitable teething problems if they understand the systems and design intent.
Ask for a short user-friendly manual that can be put on the College intranet so that new college members will also know how to use the building in the future.
Make it clear that the College expects project and equipment specific technical O&M manuals and not just general extracts from brochures. Do not accept them until they are fully complete and College’s building manager is confident that he/she has everything he/she needs. Drafts need to be provided well before handover.
Do not to be pressurised into accepting a building that has too many outstanding snags or incomplete manuals. If work remains to be done after handover agree procedures for access with the Contractor that meet any security, safety or disruption concerns the College may have and agree a timetable for the outstanding work.
Summary
