Episode 45:

Hello and Welcome to the Part3 with me podcast, 

The show that helps part 3 students jump start into their careers as qualified architects and also to provide refresher episodes for practicing architects. I am your host Maria Skoutari and this week we will be talking about the architects role in a construction project— PC1 & PC2 of the Part 3 Criteria.

So when it comes to architects role in a construction project, the first and most important aspect of a project is the relationship between the architect and client:

This is essentially the key relationship on a project, this does of course vary on the procurement method, but generally its the most important relationship. 

And given the importance of this relationship, it needs to be maintained throughout the process of the project and after to enable an ongoing relationship. The architect, therefore, needs to assess the benefits and risks with each prospective client. To help assess this, it can be beneficial to put together a list of questions to query the client on before the architect is officially instructed, questions like that can include:

• Is the client financially stable
• Does the client have a history of withholding payment or making claims
• Does the client have a clear vision of their requirements and a brief
• Is the clients vision achievable in relation to time and budget expectations
• Do they have a certain contractor in mind they want to work with and have we worked with them previously
• Has the client made the required services from the architect clear
• Does the architect have the relevant experience and resourcing to undertake the project
• Will the architect be required to enter into any collateral warranties or third party rights 
• Will the client expect the architect to be novated depending on the procurement route, and so on

So depending on the responses, if the project fits with the practices business plan and the likelihood of obtaining repeat business, the architect can assess whether to take on the project and client. 

In terms of the clients expectations from the architect:

Clients are typically informed that architects have knowledge and experience to define their objectives and develop designs that interpret the clients vision. Clients also expect that architects will secure the approvals required to enable the project to move forward and also manage the construction phase by assisting them on selecting the most appropriate procurement route, selecting a contractor, overseeing the coordination of the design and integration with subcontractor design elements and also they expect the architect to monitor the progress, quality and safety on site. 

Consulting an architect for the early stages of planning can be a great cost savings strategy for the client in both the construction and operation of the building through innovative design solutions. And by using the architect to manage and coordinate the work of the consultants and contractor can save the client both time and money in the longer term. 

In order to manage appropriate expectations, it is important for the client to protect themselves in the event an issue arises with the project and that is through appropriately drafted schedules of services and professional appointments ensuring each service required has been allowed for and agreed appropriately with the architect and other consultants. 

Now when it comes to the architects themselves, they should start by defining their services with the client:

So the schedule of services is part of the architects appointment setting out what they will be doing and services offered, alongside the terms and conditions of the appointment setting out the standard the architect is expected to achieve when performing those services. 

It is key for both the client and architect, that the client is aware and understands the services provided by the architect as this can be a cause for many disputes and complaints against architects. The architect must therefore, explain their services and actions that must be taken at each RIBA Stage to the client. 

If the RIBA Standard Professional Services contract is used, it includes a number of different roles the architect can undertake that will need to be agreed with the client depending on the requirements of the project. The roles the architects may be requested to undertake include:

• Architect/Consultant
• Lead Designer
• Project Lead
• Contract Administrator

And any other specialist roles, such as BIM coordinator. The Principle Designer role is not included because the RIBA recommends that the architect should be the default choice for Principal Designer and should be appointed under a separate contract. 

Now looking at the different roles the architect can undertake, starting with the Project Lead and Lead Designer:

The project lead is essentially the person that facilitates the appointment of the design team and manages the project to meet programme, cost and quality. 

The Lead Designer role, is more management orientated as they are expected to coordinate the design by consultants, specialists and suppliers, and inform the client of any significant design issues that may arise. 

On the majority of project, architects will be appointed as both project lead and lead designer, but that of course depends on the nature and requirements of the project. 

Next, looking at the role of the architects as consultant, their duty is to ensure their designs are accurate and adequate in terms of functionality, impact and build ability. The architect under this role is expected to exercise reasonable skill and care to provide designs that can be built and maintained safely and are cost effective. Under this role, the architect is expected to self-manage and set out a programme for each RIBA Stage setting out their services and they must be aware at all stages to the costs implemented by their design. 

And then you have the Contract Administration role, which we covered in a previous episode, where the architect invites tenders and then appraises them with the client. Under this role the architect is expected to prepare the building contract and arrange for signatures, administer the terms of the building contract, and liaise with other consultants to gather information to enable the proper administration of the contract. 

So depending on the nature of the project, an architect may be appointed to carry out any of the duties just mentioned and sometimes they may be appointed to perform more than one of those roles.

So now lets start to break down the architects duties at each stage, starting with Stage 0 & 1. Once the appointment and schedule of services has been determined and agreed between the architect and the client, the architect will then assist the client in developing their brief in the initial stages and then will most typically be expected to advise the client on the most appropriate procurement route and form of building contract. Although procurement advice is not always the architects responsibility and it should be clearly stated in their appointment and made clear with the client whether they will have a role in this area. The key aims to highlight to the client in assisting them to determine the most appropriate procurement route, is a balance between cost, timing of completion, quality of construction, risk sharing and client control over design. 

So if the architect is expected to advise on procurement, their duties will involve in advising on required amendments to the contract terms to suit the needs of the project or the client, also they may advise on optional clauses available within the contract and also advise on the need for the client to take further specialised legal advice. The architects duty to exercise reasonable skill and care expects them to provide and explain to the client the different routes and number of options in order to enable the client to make an informed decision. If the client decides on a route and then it becomes apparent that, that route is no longer suitable, the architect must bring this to the clients attention and advise them on the best way forward. 

Then, moving to Stage 2 &3, the architect duties may expand to advise or provide information on a number of other elements, one of which may be cost.

Under such circumstances, the architect may be expected to provide information for cost planning and potentially to even make provisions of the initial cost estimates and revise these during the course of the project. So instead of a cost consultant, the architect may take this on or assist the client finding a suitable cost consultant. If the architect does take on this responsibility though, it may be wise them appointing their own cost constant to assist - it is of course very rare that the architect will be expected or requested to take on this role. 

Another key role the architect has within a project and towards their client is with regards to health and safety legislation:

Were they are expected to advise the client on their duties under the CDM Regulations and health and safety legislation, they are also expected to comply with their own duties as designer under CDM and potentially the principal designer duties.

Then you have the architects duties in relation to compliance with statutory requirements:

Which involves the architects obligation to apply for any necessary statutory consents and approvals, such as planning permission. The architect is expected to advise the client with regards to what permission will be required, which other consultants may be required to be appointed to assist with the application and what is the best route in obtaining consent. The architect should also make sure to advise the client of likely timeframes and costs with such applications. 

It is of great importance that the client understands that no architect can warrant, undertake or guarantee that they will obtain planning permission as such decisions are made by the local authority and are outside the architects reasonable control. The architects responsibility when it comes to planning applications is to ensure their accuracy as they may be liable to the client for losses incurred if the permission is not granted because the architect failed to exercise reasonable skill and care. Now when permission is granted, the architect should be wary of any deviations from the consented project during construction because they will be required to re-submit the application. 

A lastly, another part of the architects duty when it comes to planning applications, is to ensure that the planning conditions placed on the project are properly discharged and communicated to the contractor who will be taking on the risk of satisfying those conditions. 

Now if the project had a joint wall or boundary or structure with a neighbouring property, the architect will be expected to be aware of the requirements of the Party Wall Act 1996 and they owe a duty of care to their client to make them aware of the requirements under the Act. The architect is expected to question and make enquiries from the client in obtaining the necessary information on the nature and extent of the works to the neighbouring party wall and to be mindful of the neighbours interest when producing the design. If the architect is suitably experienced, they may act as the clients party wall surveyor but they must ensure to act impartially and find an appropriate resolution for the dispute under the Act. Under such a scenario, the architect should explain the nature of taking on the party wall surveyor role and put together a separate written appointment to cover this specialist role. If for any reason the architect feel they won’t be able to maintain impartiality they should resign from the role and suggest the client engages someone else for the role. 

Now lets set out the architects duty in general as a designer towards the client:

The architects basic obligation to a client is to produce and develop as design using reasonable skill and care of the ordinary competent architect. The architect should never accept an absolute obligation in relation to their design because some clients may expect the architect to guarantee a specific outcome by warranting their design will be fit for purpose. The architect simply can’t guarantee this and their PII policy will not cover such claims. 

So when specifying materials and workmanship must be such that it would be supported by a responsible body of their peers. The design must be buildable e.g. design constructed by a building contractor with skill and experience that might reasonably be expected of them. If the architect made unrealistic assumptions about the workmanship required to build out the design they would be deemed as having performed negligently. So the architect will need to exercise reasonable skill and care in verifying the assumptions their design was based on or making it clear to the client that additional information will be required to verify the assumptions. But in the case where an architect bases and relies their design on information provided by a specialist, this may result in discharging the architects duty to use reasonable skill and care in producing their design but only if it was reasonable for the architect to have relied on the advise of the specialist for their design. 

The architects duty also continues during construction, for example if the architect is engaged to perform site inspection, they will be extended to use reasonable skill and care when reviewing their design on site and making sure it will work in practice and correct any errors spotted during the site visits and issuing instruction to the contractor for remedial works. If the architect fails on their duty to review and act if they spot something crucial on site they would be deemed to have acted negligently. 

Which leads to the duties of the architect at Stage 4:

Typically the first item at Stage 4 the architect is expected to tackle is the Building Regulations submission. It is the architects duty to advise the client which Building Regulations the project will have to comply with and if Building Regulations approval is required in general. Similarly with planning permission, the architect mustn’t accept the obligation of obtaining Building Regulations approval as this is something outside the architects control as with planning permission. The architect will be expected to advise the client on the most appropriate service to use for Building Control, which is either through the relevant local authority or an approved private building inspector engaged by the client. And the architect will also have to advise the client on the most appropriate procedure to follow which is either a building notice or the full plans process. So depending on the job and relevance of each process to the specific project the architect will need to advise the client on which route to follow that suits the project and also to advise on the timings and costs of the different processes. 

So once the Building Regulations process is decided, the next stage is the tender process and choosing the most appropriate form of building contract for the project depending on the clients priorities in terms of time, cost and quality. At this stage, the architect will be expected to prepare production information in sufficient detail to enable the tenders to be obtained. When producing the documentation, the architect must bear in mind the clients budget, the programme, which other parties will need to be engaged, the other parties roles and responsibilities and which building contract and procurement route should be used. The architect will have the role of assisting the client to appraise the tenders received and provide a recommendation to the client of the most suitable tender, although sometimes the client may not seek the architects advise on this. The architects duty of reasonable skill and care in this context is to provide advice that is logically supportable and the architect should check the contractor’s skill, capacity, experience, reputation and insurance cover and presented to the client in the form of a report to enable them to make an informed decision and it is the architects responsibility to make sure the client understands the rules of acceptance of the contractors tender.

And then moving to Stage 5, covers the architects duties during construction and their duty to inspect:

The architects services at this stage may include a duty to visit the construction works to check on progress and quality, coordinate with other consultant and the contractor, provide comments and approvals as required or necessary, gather information needed for the CA role duties. 

A key thing to remember with site visits is that the architect should not agree to a service of ‘supervision’ of the works but ‘inspection’. The key difference is that under supervision the architect may be involved in giving directions on how the works should be carried out which the architect ordinarily has no authority to do so in such a way and opens up the architect to potential claims, risks and many other issues. 

So its best the architect sticks to site ‘inspections’ which is an onerous enough duty and should be tailored to the specific project and the frequency of visits will depend on the stage reached in the works. Each visit should have a definite purpose and vary the times or dates of inspections. In carrying out their inspections, as with all their other duties, architects are expected to exercise reasonable skill and care and should therefore aim before and at each visit to gather the relevant information before hand, estimate how often they will need to visit and what they will be looking for at each visit, identify the appropriateness of level of detail required when inspecting a particular element and to assess the actions required when they return back to the office. 

The key question architects must ask themselves before and after each visit is, would a responsible body of architects have discharged their inspection duty in the same way? And then keep a thorough log of their site inspections, set out in chronological order in case their actions are ever questioned or end up in court. 

And then last but not least, the architects duties at Stage 6 & 7:

During the post-completion phase the architect will be advising the client in relation to the resolution of defects and final inspections required and making clear that the architect is not responsible for the defects found at these inspections and the architect is not assuming responsibility for the work of others. At Stage 6, the architect will also have a role in settling or providing information to others to enable them to settled the final account. 

And then at Stage 7, the architect may be required to advise in relation to the operation and maintenance manual of the completed building and it is good practice for the architect to de-brief the client on how the building is performing post-occupation and seek feedback from the client on how the architect and other members of the project team performed during the course of the building. This is a good way for the architect to manage their legal risk in potential warnings of dissatisfaction of the client in potentially bringing a claim against the architect. This process helps the architect manage the clients expectations and to prevent perceived problems from turning into claims. 

So to sum up what I discussed today:

• It is key for architects to keep good relationships with their clients throughout the process if they are to obtain repeat business from that client - so client relationships are key! 
• The architect must be clear from the outset with the services and roles to be provided to the client and to keep them updated and informed of these throughout the process to make sure the client understands what to expect from the architect at each stage 
• These services and roles need to be set out and agreed with the client within the appointment 
• At each RIBA Stage the architect will be undertaking different duties. At Stages 0 & 1 they will assist with the brief and potential procurement route based on the nature and requirements of the project
• At Stage 2&3, the architect is expected to comply with statutory requirements and prepare and submit the planning application 
• At Stage 4 the architect is expected to prepare, advise the client and submit Building Regulations and assist with the tender process and documentation
• At Stage 5, the architects duty is to carry out period site inspections and to check on progress and quality, coordinate with other consultant and the contractor, provide comments and approvals as required or necessary, gather information needed for the CA role duties.
• And at Stage 6&7, the architects duties involve advising the client of the defects and final inspections and debriefing them on the buildings performance post-occupation and seek feedback from the client on how the architect and other members of the project team performed during the course of the building.