Assembling A Collaborative Team - Other - Page 65
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How are project roles allocated?
The allocation of project roles to specific parties is a crucial consideration,
regardless of project size, and this cannot be emphasised enough. Where a
practice is following the steps outlined in this publication to prepare practicespecific documents that will be used time and time again, this step is important
as any issues might arise repeatedly on a number of projects before appropriate
adjustments to a practice’s documentation can be made.
While preparation of the Project Roles Table can be undertaken in parallel with
preparing the Contractual Tree (which is considered next) there are advantages
to preparing them in isolation: decisions are not clouded by the need to consider
contractual relationships. In either case, the result is different but complementary
outputs: a Project Roles Table and a Contractual Tree(s) or organogram(s).
With the required project roles determined and agreed and the timing of contractor
involvement settled, preparation of the Project Roles Table considers which party
is best placed to undertake each role at each stage. There are three factors that
influence this decision:
• certain roles are typically combined or allocated to a single party
• roles may pass from one party to another as the project, and stages, progress
• a project may be limited in its scope.
These factors are now considered.
What roles might be combined?
It is common for one party to be appointed to undertake a number of roles.
Common scenarios include:
•an architectural practice undertaking the lead designer, architect and contract
administrator roles
•a project management company undertaking the project lead as well as the
cost consultant role
•the building services engineer carrying out the lead designer role on a
complex engineering project such as a data centre, or the civil engineer on
an infrastructure project
•a major consultancy practice undertaking the structural and building services
engineering roles as well as some of the secondary roles, such as acoustics
and fire engineering, and
•a cost consultancy undertaking the cost consultant and health and safety
adviser roles.
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