The client relationship: making plans a reality
So you’re about to lead a board meeting of the team that will finally construct your building project. The plan is to become reality.
Whether you have experience of what a building project involves – including the nuts and bolts of construction itself to knowing what to expect from the various professionals entrusted to do the work – the meeting is a big milestone.
So you’re about to lead a board meeting of the team that will finally construct your building project. The plan is to become reality.
Whether you have experience of what a building project involves – including the nuts and bolts of construction itself to knowing what to expect from the various professionals entrusted to do the work – the meeting is a big milestone.
It’s not quite The Apprentice. To start with, you could all be meeting in a coffee shop instead of an actual boardroom, so it might seem less formal.
And, hopefully, there isn’t the tension that competing for Lord Sugar’s favour inevitably entails. After all, all the participants should be pulling in the same direction.
But even though the team assembled before you will be playing their various parts to create a glorious whole, that doesn’t mean each and every one of them has the same judgement calls, priorities or demands on their time and expertise.
Not quite the last supper
Picture the scene: as the client – the person or representative for the institution paying for the scheme – you’ll be sitting at the top of the table.
To your left is the Principal Designer, most likely your architect. They’ll have the plans and designs in front of them and will likely be accompanied by an engineer. Depending on the scheme’s scope and size, they may also be joined by an interior designer.
To your right is the Principal Contractor, probably unaccompanied, responsible for commissioning all the supplies and the litany of sub-contractors who will actually do the work.
“It’s not quite the last supper,” says Stockbridge Design & Build’s construction director Adeel Bhatti, “but that’s pretty much the scene.”
A great deal of work would have already taken place, possibly over many months, to settle the scheme’s design, scope and budget. The client’s first act would almost certainly be to find an architect they can work with. So, by the time the board meeting is convened, the client-architect relationship should already be very well established.
As Adeel explains, there are ‘different levels’ of architect, providing a greater or lesser range of services and expertise that’s usually reflected in their fees.
“They’re like solicitors – you pay for what you get,” says Adeel. “Some are cheap, cheerful and are technical drawers who will try and get the scheme through the planning process.
“They’ll understand all the rules and regulations, but not necessarily to the same extent as a top-rung architect with their own staff.” Some will employ or commission planning consultants to pitch schemes to local authorities to maximise their chances of navigating it through the planning process unscathed.
Constructing a viable plan
A key part of the architect’s role is to understand and extract what their paying customer wants and match it with a viable project they can afford.
Architects are trained to understand everything in terms of design, layout and how the designs should be presented. The client, however, may have a different way of looking at things, and not necessarily with a design eye, or find it difficult to express exactly what it is they want.
This may be even less straightforward if the architect is determined to put their own design stamp on the development, or where inexperienced clients are vague or unrealistic over what they want from the scheme. If unresolved, these tensions could surface at the meeting.
Says Adeel: “The client always wants everything for nothing, or what he can’t afford. But then the architect tries to translate – or transliterate – this into terms that can be practically understood.
“The architect is the mastermind, possibly with the interior designer. A successful architect can get into the client’s mind and produces a plan that reflects what the client wants. A not-so-successful architect may be less able to achieve that.”
And changing plans leading up to, or even at, the meeting, can add delay and cost to the overall scheme – in no small part because, for instance, alterations to the internal walls will require updates to the many drawings for each element of the scheme.
If these issues are settled, however, each team member will still be driven by different agendas and motivations. “What one has to try an be aware of is what the various participants want from that meeting – who’s pushing who, who’s wanting what out of it. As the client, you almost need to know their thought processes behind their actions.”
Choosing a contractor: don’t look back in anger
Domestic clients new to managing a construction project may not understand the full implications of what being one of the primary, legally-defined ‘Dutyholders’ are. In which case, finding contractors they can trust and work with should be their top priority
So, you want to extend your house, or build a new home from scratch, and you’ve been musing on some ideas about form, function, materials and style.
You consider whether this space will be your primary place of residence. Or will it generate a financial return? Something approaching an overall budget starts to emerge from your scrawl on the back of a crisp packet.
And you can already begin envisioning how your creation will look and feel in your mind’s eye. Could it be a modern, open-plan space, full of gadgets and fluffy cushions, easy comfort and light? Just like those ambitious developments on Channel 4’s Grand Designs?
Or will it hark back to traditional design values, recreating the best from a period country cottage? Perhaps, with a big open fire to warm the occasional social get-togethers?
You begin to think this could be your opportunity to create something in bricks and mortar that reflect your values.
The thing is: dreaming is the really really really easy bit. If you’re going to make the dream come true, however, then you can delay the inevitable no longer.
It’s time to … gulp! … talk to some professionals to flesh out your germ of an idea.
Risks
And, from the moment you take that step, the first reality you’ll encounter is that, thanks to a major shake-up of the legally-defined construction project roles in 2015, you – ‘the Client’ – will immediately assume the bulk of the risks.
The fact that you face risks will not come as a surprise. But the full implications of how you, as one of the primary, legally-defined ‘Dutyholders’, might. Finding professionals you can trust and work with, therefore, should be your top priority.
“We live in an age of fear, disclaimers, litigation and insurance disputes,” said Stockbridge Design & Build’s construction director Adeel Bhatti. “All that might seem a far cry when the client is all excited about their project when choosing a builder or contractor.
“Obviously, clients will hope for the best. But they would also do well to know what happens if things go wrong; to know what the issues are and be prepared.
“They need to know that there is a legal framework that governs even the simplest of extensions, or just putting a window in or decorating. There will still be risks.”
Legal duties
Some context. Your project’s management will be framed by the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015, introduced by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE).
It defines three ‘top-level’ roles that lead any project: ‘the Client’, as mentioned earlier; the Principal Designer, probably an architect; and the Principal Contractor, the person or persons charged with managing the entire construction process. For small projects, the latter two roles may be held by the same person.
Whoever else is involved in the project, all the legal duties and responsibilities around its construction reside with these three ‘principal’ roles.
A ‘domestic client’ might be an individual looking to have some work done on their own home or that of a family member.
By contrast with commercial clients – institutions and businesses – domestic clients are much more likely to be emotionally invested in their project and look for a similar investment from their contractors.
But, adds Adeel, they should not let their emotions obscure the very real issues that could emerge if the parties fall out.
“Choosing your contractors is not just a question of whether the guy can do the product well. In my time, I’ve seen loads of really good builders who have no idea about the UK’s health and safety regulations.
“If you go for a builder that’s really cheap, what short cuts is he going to take with your money. Will he cut all the services you’d get from a more professional contractor? If yes, he could be putting you and your house at risk.
“And choosing the right builder doesn’t necessarily mean going for a more expensive option. If he’s charging you £100 more a day, where is that £100 going? Is it on overheads?
“You might have a builder who is emotionally invested, but it’s only when things go wrong that there are pointing fingers. Only choose the most expensive builder if he’s putting some of that money into health and safety.”
Foresight
Happily, the client is not the only one who wants a scheme to be trouble-free. Developments can be hassly enough without disagreements breaking out among the parties, and contractors are in the business of finishing a job, making money and moving onto the next project.
And so, client can minimise their exposure with just a bit of foresight and an understanding of the legal roles and undertakings that any development involves.
“If the fingers are pointing after someone has been hurt, then insurance and health and safety professionals will become involved to identify where the responsibility lies,” says Adeel. “And they always come at a cost – whether they visit the site or not.
“At the end of the day, every project involves risk – risks with people’s lives. Some mistakes and short-cuts might seem vaguely comical at the time, but it’s only comedy until it becomes tragedy.
“The cost of sorting things out, especially when the parties are suing each other, can be enormous. These are extreme circumstances, sure, and most projects pass off without a major problem.
“But protect yourself. Don’t shut your eyes to the world around you when one of those people you’re entering an agreement with could end up suing you.”
Welcome to the Stockbridge blog
We’re interested in new building products and innovations, as well as the environment and climate change – an all-encompassing set of challenges that loom large on the agenda.
We’re a team with a wealth of construction industry experience. And, while we’re not looking to use this blog to break the mould, our interest goes beyond the everyday business of completing projects for our clients – though that is, obviously, very important.
We’re also interested in the social dimension of construction and land management – planning and land use; the form, function and location of buildings; design trends, fashions and what these might say about us and the way we want to live our lives.
We’re also interested in new building products and innovations, as well as the environment and climate change – an all-encompassing set of challenges that loom large on the agenda.
We will have to confront these challenges whether we want to or not. And as the need to make our buildings and our lifestyles more sustainable rises, so will the focus on the best options for moving the construction industry forward.
So there’s a lot to talk about and we intend to use this space to cover some topics as they arise. Some might be quite technical, others more general and ‘lifestyley’. Either way, we hope it will be of interest.