Practice Management - 07 Briefing

7.         Briefing

Work stages critical to the briefing process

·       RIBA Stage of Work 0 – Strategic Definition

·       RIBA Stage of Work 1 – Preparation and Brief

·       RIBA Stage of Work 2 – Concept Design

·       Briefing is a process not a one stop even.  Developing the brief and developing the design are activities that interact

Why is briefing important? – manages risk, value, expectations.

Briefing is an evolutionary process of understanding an organisation’s needs and resources and matching these to its objectives and mission.

·       Mechanism for defining and translating client + user needs to the project team

·       A good brief aligns all key project parameters – vision, need, space, time and budget and requires timely decision-making.

·       Defines typical and specific requirements

·       Defines short term / long term requirements

·       Understanding the clients needs and sets benchmarks for the balance between time, cost and quality

·       Helps to fix a balance between project benefits (user requirements) and project costs

·       Mechanism for management of requests for change – the opportunity to reduce costs decreases with progression of project stages – diagram

How can briefing be used to minimise risk, max profit, increase quality?

·       Aligns client + stakeholders (Executive Client, Funders, Users, Developer) aims and ambitions

·       Defines expectations and relationship between time, cost and quality

·       Sets a way of managing decisions.  Flexiblity vs reduction of risk. Ie.  Creates a mechanism for timely project decisions reducing late changes and long term life cycle costs

·       Defines deliverables

3 Phases of the Brief

Strategic Brief: Sets out the objectives the client wants to achieve in the project and is a basis for Feasibility Studies. Important part of developing the brief. Should be formalised at the end of stage 0

·       Functional Requirements

·       Environmental Standards

·       Levels of Quality

·       Lifespan and maintenance

·       Under the RIBA Agreements the Client is to supply all the information in the Clients possession, or which is reasonably obtainable, and which is necessary for the proper and timely performance of the services.  The CDM regulations also require the Client to supply other information about or affecting the site or construction work.

Initial Project Brief: Covers technical, managerial and design intentions, and shows how these requirements are to be met.  Result of research and development from all the design team + specialist advise. Should be formalised by the end of stage 01

·       Feasibility Study

·       Site / building Survey

·       Research into functional needs

·       Accessibility audits

·       Cost appraisal studies

Project Brief: Should further define all design requirements. Be prepared by the architect in collaboration with the client, and coordinated with consultants + CDM Co-ordinator.  It is the foundation on which the design will develop.  It is a factual record and document of importance.

·       The purpose is to identify or confirm the detail requirements for such matters as operational use, quality, environment, budget, programme and procurement.  The project brief will define all design requirements. 

·       The client and all members of the consultant team should contribute to the process of evaluation, testing and development. On top of the clients obligation to provide information, it is in the interest of a competent and diligent Architect that the brief is complete without any gaps

·       A detailed project brief should be signed off by the client

What can be addressed through briefing process?

·       Vision

·       Needs – functional requirements

·       Space – programmatic requirements

·       Time constraints

·       Budget

·       Definition and hierarchy of decision makers and how this is controlled

·       Key strategies for accessibility, security policy, environmental policy.

How can this process be conducted?

·       Information gathering

·       existing records + surveys of existing facilities

·       Benchmarking

·       Precedents

·       Simulations

·       Space and time studies

·       Interviews

·       Questionnaires

·       Focus groups

·       Workshops

What are Feedback Loops

·       It is important to get the learning and experience from past projects into the brief for a new venture by gathering and organising the feeback to help decision-making.  Benefiting from lessons learned before.  A way of gathering this information is through post occupancy evaluations.

How can briefing be used to serve the business needs of the project while ensuring quality?

·       Valuable in managing decisions that will effect the project.  Helps to identify the fine balance between designing in flexibility and reducing risk.  Can be used to identify the milestones where decisions need to be made, allowing for informed decision making without adversely affecting the cost or quality.

·       Core objectives are agreed early on and are written down to be used as a reference in future decision making

·       Mechanism for stakeholder input at early stage

·       Sets standards for agreed standards for the level of quality

·       Sets expectations on budget, time frame and quality, and this information should be used as a benchmark if through the life of the project the balance of these indicators changes.

Architects obligation

RIBA Standard Form of Agreement – Clause 3.2-4  - Client must provide information and decisions as necessary for the proper and timely performance of the service.  Architect is entitled to rely on such information.  Notwithstanding the client’s obligation to provide information, RIBA principle 2 – Competence requires architect, in the interest of a “competent and diligent Architect” to ensure that the brief is complete without gaps.

RIBA Code of Conduct – Principle 2.1 – Members are expected to apply a high standard of skill, knowledge and care in all their works, and apply their informed and impartial judgement. Ie. Community interests against project capital costs.

ARB Code – Standard 2 – Competence

2.3 You are expected to ensure that the necessary communication skills and local knowledge are available to you to discharge your responsibility. 

CDM Regulations 2007

The Architect has a duty to inform the client to their obligations under the CDM regulations.

Importance of engaging with the Local groups who object to the development.

·       Managing expectations!

·       In response to the clients suggestion to ignore issues raised by the focus group I would inform the client of the following:

Planning Considerations:

·       The objections of the local group is still a risk to the approval of the full planning consent.  As all reserved matters need to be distinguished before consent is granted, we must engage in public consultation to inform the local groups of the design, highlighting the benefits this development will bring to the local community.  Feedback from the local group could be incorporated into the design gaining local buy-in to the project.

By engaging with this local user group

·       Aligns client + stakeholders (Executive Client, Funders, Users, Developer) aims and ambitions

·       Defines expectations and relationship between time, cost and quality

·       Sets a way of managing decisions.  Flexiblity vs reduction of risk.

·       Defines deliverables

Chain Supermarket – Stakeholder

·       existing records + surveys of existing facilities

·       Benchmarking

·       Space and time studies

Community Center Users

·       Information gathering

·       Precedents

·       Interviews

·       Questionnaires

·       Focus groups

·       Workshops

Letter to Client explaining the main aims of the briefing process

Dear Client,

In response to the concerns you have raised regarding time set aside in the project for briefing, I have prepared a short explanatory letter outlining our aims for the briefing process, risks associated with inadequate briefing, and our recommendations to clearly manage the briefing process moving forward.

Aims of the briefing process

Briefing is an evolutionary process of understanding an organisation’s needs and resources and matching these to its objectives and mission.

·       Mechanism for defining and translating client + user and other stakeholders needs to the project team, managing relationships and reducing risk in the planning, design and construction process.

·       Key to the success of the project is the alignment of all key project parameters – vision, need, space, time and budget.  The briefing process allows these parameters to be align early on in the project and identifies when outstanding decisions need to be make to allow for flexibility without impacting on the progression of the project or its time and budget restraints.

·       Defines typical and specific requirements

·       Way of capturing in the design both the short term / long term requirements of the client and other stakeholders

·       Understanding the clients needs and sets benchmarks for the balance between time, cost and quality

·       Helps to fix a balance between project benefits (user requirements) and project costs

·       Mechanism for management of requests for change – the opportunity to reduce costs decreases with progression of project stages – diagram

Risks associated with inadequate briefing

·       Misalignment with client + stakeholders (Executive Client, Funders, Users, Developer) aims and ambitions.  Late changes cost money.

·       Undefined expectations and relationship between time, cost and quality

·       Reduces ability to implement feedback loops to reduce long term life cycle costs for long term gains.

Immediate actions.

·       Set up consultation day with the end users, present the strategic brief and use a feedback form to document users needs.

·       Set up a focus group – client to be present for everyone to understand issues and help resolve

·       Organise for a visit of a similar scheme with similar time / cost / quality constraints to manage expectations of client and end users, and gain feedback that could benefit lifespan running costs

·       Document this all in the Project Brief, agree a date for issue and insure client sign off.

From the above information I hope that the importance of the briefing process is made clear.  Please contact me if you have any questions

Kind regards,

Specific questions for client: