This phase of the project is very exciting, it is when you finally land on site and see a spade hit the ground. There are often months or even years of working to get to this point. This is generally when contracts have been signed, fees will be paid, council submissions are (or close to being) approved and your months/years of work have finally paid off. It is where you see your vision come to life. Tender Process As mentioned in reflection 3, tender drawings are compiled and sent to the QS to send out for tender. When it is returned you will adjudicate the tenders with the client, QS and project manager. There are names which everyone knows and are always preferred, however, sometimes the work is in a new area and there will be contractors whom you have never heard of. This is when you will look at previous work and references to evaluate which is the best contractor to go for. The cheapest is seldom the best option. It could mean that the contractor is inexperienced, desperate and could be hiding fees which will come out of the wash later in the project. Due to the size of our projects, the bulk of this work is done by the project manager (principal agent) and QS, however with our recommendations in mind. Site Handover Site handover meetings are when the site is given to the contractor to start the work. The JBCC or similar contract will be signed and we will issue our construction drawings. These cannot deviate too drastically from the tender drawings otherwise it will throw out the expected budget and timeline. Often these drawings are only the general arrangement drawings, detail sections and schedules. Seldomly, it includes coordinated ceiling plans, finishes drawings, 1:5 details etc., these will come later. The contractor will use these drawings to set out the project programme and information required schedule. I have yet to run a site handover meeting, as these have always been done by the project manager. Site meetings then follow weekly or biweekly, where progress, budget and problems are discussed. I have attended many of these over the years. It is always important to remain professional, not mad mouth other consultants and resolve issues with a high level of integrity. Inspection of works As the project moves along, I always pick up issues or see things which deviate from the drawings. It is important to inform the contractor, project manager and any other relevant parties of these issues. This can be done in an email or a progress report. In my 17 years, no project has run smoothly without hiccups, it is the nature of the game. I see new buildings as prototypes. As much as you fixate and try to iron out every potential risk or complication, you don’t really know all of them until the prototype is tested or constructed. Once the design is finalised, the contract is signed, and preliminary council approvals are achieved, we then move on to construction documentation. However, we have often gone into this phase at risk, which has hurt us a few times in the past. This is a tricky situation to navigate, with a lot of factors at play and you often find yourself there very quickly. However, it is imperative that you remember to inform your client upfront that you cannot proceed without a contract in place. In this phase of the project, we take everything we designed previously and make it work. Every junction needs to be thought about, and every material or element needs to be specified. Essentially this is where most of the time is spent. As indicated in the Fee guidelines by SACAP, 30% of the work goes into construction and council documentation. Statutory Compliance All SANS 10400, Zoning and other building regulations need to be adhered to. Careful coordination must take place with the consultants. Once this is achieved building plans can be submitted for approval and the tender process for the main contract can take place. In a perfect world, the latter needs to happen before tender can proceed. Yet, due to time constraints, these two often happen simultaneously. Detailing and Specifications In my experience, I have come to realise that no building is simple. There is always an extreme level of detail and care required especially in this phase. Regulations change, materials advance and services improve. You are constantly learning. Working as a technologist for so many years, my primary focus from the beginning has always been detailing. Since a child, I enjoyed making things work and learning how things work. Using textbooks is a great source of information, however, it cannot replace actual on-site experience. Seeing how they put things together informs how you detail. Visiting factories or workshops are incredibly useful in understanding when to use specific products. Consultants Drawings Something I have increasingly come to realise over the years is the importance of checking consultants’ drawings. The builder or subcontractors seldom use architect’s drawings for specific services and structures. They assume the information is coordinated and correct. The most essential discipline to coordinate upfront is structural and civil information. If these drawings do not align with the architects, you will have an endless number of mistakes. Roofs can be at the incorrect height due to not coordinating the steel drawings, slabs can be at the incorrect height and size, or columns can end up in the middle of rooms. This can greatly impact the client’s use of the space and sometimes render the space unusable. It is imperative that a good amount of time is meant meeting and coordinating with consultants. Managing Time We currently monitor time spent on projects using an outdated clocking system. (I am looking at bringing in a new system). What I have come to realise is that if you exceed your time allowance on a project, you still need to continue and get it done. Once the fee is settled with the client, it can be very difficult to ask for more money. This is usually due to design changes, substantial discounts on SACAP rates, or incorrect estimation of hours when fees are hourly based. Obviously, mistakes are learnt and changes must be made, but what matters at the end of the day is that your list of project income minus your list of expenses comes out at a positive and worst case a zero. As mentioned in Reflection 1, a brief site analysis is always needed to properly understand the scope and feasibility of a project. In this reflection, however, the site investigation and evaluation is what happens in Stages 1 to 3 of the project. This is where all statutory and zoning scheme knowledge is required. It is when you start to ask questions such as, “Will the project require a rezoning, EIA or TIA? What are the height restrictions, setbacks or heritage status? What is the contextual and climate impact? Previously many of these questions had to be answered at the municipality, however, now most areas have zoning websites. These websites will include information on the current zoning of a site, heritage status, property ownership, erf numbers and site area. It is now also possible to download the SG Diagrams, title deeds and most other information required to formulate an accurate analysis of the site. We typically use ‘Cape Town Farm Mapper’ for our western cape projects and have a ‘Windeed’ subscription to request title deeds. Once all the information is received, we will then proceed to the SDP (site development plan). This plan will show the proportions, location and impact of the buildings. This requires the bulk, coverage, FAR and parking calculations, to make sure that we fit within the zoning requirements. This SDP will include a basic level of materiality and aesthetics to give a high-level description of the design intent. Council will scrutinise this to make sure it either fits with their town planning or other requirements. While this is underway, we also meet regularly with the client and consultants to workshop the design concept and understand the services required. The space required for these services needs to be incorporated into the design and it also determines if the current bulk infrastructure needs to be upgraded. It can be a substantial cost to improve the site’s bulk services. In these meetings, we will also show Lumion or Revit 3D images and flythroughs to give the client a good understanding of what we have envisioned. I have generated countless amount of 3D flythroughs and renderings over the years. I have included some of these in the slideshow below. This is a great way to sell your design to the client, get everybody on the same page, and/or use it for marketing material to anchor potential investors or tenants. Once the design is finalised or close to complete, the QS will be able to take all the information we have generated and come up with an elemental costing/budget. The outcome of this will inform us if the design proposal is feasible, as well as answer any questions which were budget dependent. This budget usually defines the project cost which will then be used to finalise the professional teams’ fees and cash flow, completing the appointment through the PROCSA agreement, which I mentioned in my 1st reflection. The cash flow is generally related to the project program which the project manager will put in place. I have done a program for a few projects in the past, but it has always been high-level. I have included an example in the slide show below. I have never had to generate a GANTT chart myself, as our projects are large enough to always have a project manager in place. I generated a GANTT chart for practice assignment PS1.3 and was surprised at how much I knew from years of studying these charts. I have had just under 17 years of working experience in the architectural industry and 8 of those have been actively involved in project and office management. Below I have broken down this experience and current responsibilities. Client Meetings I have attended and run numerous meetings with clients this year. With new projects, the scope of work always needs to be clearly understood. This usually entails a brief site analysis and conceptual drawing to ascertain firstly if the brief is clear, and secondly if the project can successfully be undertaken. This would then follow with a client/architect agreement/contract. Our preferred contract is still the PROCSA agreement, however, I have recently had to sign an NEC3 Professional Service Contract. Both clearly break down the scope, budget and deliverables, and many other necessary points which need to be laid out upfront according to the SACAP code of conduct. It also gives the opportunity to have the same contract between consultants once the professional team is understood. With every meeting, it is important to follow up with minutes or an email breaking down what was discussed/agreed upon. This is to make sure there is a record in writing which has many benefits, namely eliminating confusion or settling possible disputes. Office Management I currently manage company marketing, finances, HR, General office management and environment. In addition, I manage my department which consists of 12 employees. Marketing Marketing is an extremely important aspect of owning a business. It increases your reach and sets you among the better-known architectural firms. It communicates your company’s philosophy; character and it can bring a sense of pride to the staff. I currently manage the following under the marketing heading,
Finance I have taken over the company’s financial management. This has been a huge learning curve for me. Up to mid-last year, my exposure to fees or finances was minimal. However, since mid-last year I have actively been involved in every aspect of finances within the company. I have had to quickly learn Microsoft Excel, which I have thoroughly enjoyed. Management of finances includes the following,
Office Management and Environment Our company vision is "creating award-winning architecture from a vibrant environment." We have come to call this vibrant environment our ‘envibrament’. These are the aspects I look at to make sure we have a good ‘envibrament’,
Staff Management I have taken over our Studio 3 department which tackles all work for WCED, Pepkor and other projects. Due to having nearly 200 school projects running concurrently, with a staff base of 12, I have had to bring in some structuring and task management tools. I have created a reporting system for each school using Microsoft Planner which has been incredibly helpful. Human Resources I have taken over managing human resources in the company. We do have an HR consultant, however, there are high-level decisions required which do not fall within the consultant’s scope. These include,
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Seth AlfinoProfessional Architectural Technologist working in Cape Town, South Africa Blogs |