Assembling A Collaborative Team - Other - Page 93
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Chapter overview
Programmes have an essential contractual purpose; they also facilitate the
day-to-day running of a project and play a crucial role in managing risk. This
chapter considers the importance of programmes and differentiates between the
different types of programme that might be used on a project.
While professional services contracts have typically contained key milestone dates,
historically programmes have not been essential components of construction projects.
The crucial cultural shift with the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 is that the Project Programme,
and potentially the related Design and Construction Programmes, can become core
contractual documents.
What is the purpose of the Project Programme?
The Project Programme sets the strategic periods from briefing to project handover
and beyond. It can be made a contractual document for incorporating into both
professional services contracts and the Building Contract. It highlights for the design
team the periods during which they have to undertake their specific duties (Schedules
of Services) and sets out the period for construction and handover. It may identify
activities that overlap and create risk and it is therefore essential that the Project
Programme is prepared and agreed prior to the parties entering into any contracts.
What is the aim of a Design Programme?
Depending on the nature of the project, the lead designer should prepare a Design
Programme, or individual and more detailed programmes for each design stage,
to ensure that, in addition to being aware of their own duties or obligations, other
parties involved in the design process are aware of what they have to produce
and when. Design Programmes should be strategic, since the nature of iterative
design, which requires input from clients and third parties whose outputs are not
within the control of the project team, makes it difficult to define dates with certainty.
It is unlikely that the Project Programme will influence specific design tasks being
undertaken at a given stage; however, where stages overlap the lead designer will
need to consider any impact on the design process.
The Design Programme is a core management tool for the lead designer and
should set out client meeting dates and the timetable for design team meetings
as well as key project stage milestones for the design team’s reference. The
challenge in producing a Design Programme is making it sufficiently detailed to
provide guidance to the design team yet not so detailed that the iterative design
process is seen to be constantly in delay. To assist with this challenge, the Design
Programme must be used in conjunction with other design management tools.
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