Time management is a key function of collaborative procurement, and a shared timetable needs to integrate the timescales of ESI activities undertaken by the Client with the Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and with other consultants, contractors, subcontractors, manufacturers, suppliers and operators. For example, agreed ESI deadlines for all design contributors include dates for the submission, review and approval of:
■ Each stage of the designs developed before creation of a Fire Statement and fire safety information to be submitted with relevant planning applications under Planning Gateway one requirements.
■ Each stage of the designs developed before and after prices are submitted by bidding contractors
■ Design details and amendments added before submitting a building control application at Gateway two and committing to the construction of the project
■ Design details and amendments added before and after committing to the construction of the project and each work package
■ Design details and amendments necessary to integrate designs with supply and manufacture off site and with works on site through to submission of a Gateway three application.
Clients and their advisers may be concerned that there is not enough time for ESI, but the Construction Playbook states that 'Investing time in ESI can lead to more effective designs, reducing changes and potential cost increases downstream. This results in faster delivery when construction starts'. It also emphasises that 'Early engagement will help highlight the interdependencies of specialist supply chain members and allow them to be part of developing the solution to the right quality levels and increase safety collaboratively'.
An integrated ESI timetable sets out agreed deadlines and interfaces between team members and sits at the heart of collaborative procurement. Without it, there is the risk that ESI commitments will be open-ended and will allow delays in starting and proceeding efficiently with a particular stage of design, Collaborative ESI should set out agreed risk management actions in respect of safety and quality concerns and should recognise where external influences may cause delays that are outside the control of team members. ESI can then assist team members in identifying opportunities to mitigate the effects of these external influences.
Example: The Hackney Rogate House project team reported how 'joint investigation and planning of complex refurbishment works achieved an] accurate and integrated construction phase [contractual] Project Timetable; Completion of works at Alma House had taken 115 weeks to refurbish 108 flats whereas at Rogate House it took 90 weeks to refurbish 192 flats; The Rogate House team had worked at approximately double the speed.' |
Example: On the St George's Hospital Keyworker Accommodation project, the team used open-book costing to agree a maximum price, following which ' monthly critical analysis ensured that financial risks could be eliminated or quantified.... allowing the client to instruct change instructions which increased the quality of the project further, safe in the knowledge that costs would be confined within the agreed maximum price.' |
Team members cannot ignore the possibility of a change in the Client's requirements or other changing circumstances, and ESI provides the shared information that helps team members to adjust their financial arrangements to reflect new information acquired or emerging during the course of a project. Agreement of the Principal Contractor's profit and overheads and joint analysis of other project costs enable the Client to work with the other team members to mitigate the cost effects of proposed changes.
ESI creates shared knowledge of costs that helps to avoid or minimise the scope for disputes because, as the Arup Report for Government stated, 'when differences arise against a background of open-book record-keeping and the cooperative exchange of information, the process and disclosure of information can reduce the scope of the difference'.
A collaborative team needs to agree a system of quality management, and ESI provides the time and means to agree not only the appropriate standards and methods for design, supply, construction and operation of an in-scope building but also the means for monitoring safety and quality compliance.
The role of a project manager under a collaborative contract includes the fair and constructive exercise of professional judgment during the ESI pre-construction phase and construction phase in order to facilitate an integrated design, supply and construction process, and in preparing for the handover and ongoing operation of the completed building or works. The project manager should:
■ Organise and monitor contributions to agreed ESI activities by the Client, Principal Designer, Principal Contractor and the other dutyholders, consultants, subcontractors and suppliers who prepare Gateway applications in order to optimise safety, quality and regulatory compliance, including design, costing, Value Management, Supply Chain Collaboration and risk management
■ Organise, monitor and manage and agreed activities of dutyholders in achieving safety, quality and regulatory compliance and in developing and updating a fire and emergency file
■ Organise and monitor and manage compliance with an integrated timetable governing all agreed activities of dutyholders
■ Organise, monitor and manage the construction control plan (including the change management strategy) submitted for approval at Gateway two
■ Organise and monitor the use of suitable digital information management tools to create a golden thread of information as described in Section 8.