It is during the design phase of a project that the design professional is able to demonstrate skill, expertise, vision and creativity. It is also during the design phase that the design professional can experience service scope creep, delays, budget increases, and a divergence from the client’s concept of the project. Each potential occurrence represents a significant risk exposure to the design professional. Each also represents a risk that can be controlled.

Project Plan

An effective tool to controlling design phase risks is the development of a project plan prior to the commencement of work. A well-developed plan can result in the successful and efficient management of the design phase and development of construction documents. A well-developed project plan does not require that the development of the design documents be micromanaged. Instead, a well-developed plan allows for the design manager and the design professional to know the status of design at any given point in time and identify in real time if the project is running over time or budget.

The plan should include a schedule for the performance of work. Milestone dates should be established for the completion of major events such as schematic design completion and final drawing development. On a weekly basis the project should be compared next to the plan schedule to determine if the design phase work is in line with the schedule.

Hand-in-hand with the development of a schedule is the assigning of specific labor hours to the tasks that comprise each design activity. A plan that delineates the hours anticipated to expended for each task allows the design professional to determine where design service time slippage is occurring. The design professional can utilize the plan to determine if a particular task is behind schedule or the entire project and the reasons for it.

A plan that sets for the above expectations will also allow the design professional to track the course of design activities in accord with the project budget. Based upon the time to be expended for each design phase activity, a monetary budget can be set for each activity, as well as the overall project. Again the design phase can be tracked in accord with an established budget in real time. If properly implemented, over expenditures can be caught almost immediately, evaluated and corrected. It should be noted that accounting software packages are becoming sophisticated enough to allow for the tracking of plan budgets and time with the entry of each team member’s time sheet.

Moreover, the establishment and tracking of the above information is a key means of identifying and controlling scope creep. With the amount of activities that constitute design phase activities and the client communications and directives, scope creep can occur on a daily basis without anyone noticing until it is too late. A well-developed plan does not allow scope creep to go unnoticed.

The project plan should also identify the project team. Identifying the team in advance allows a design professional to evaluate whether the expertise needed for the project is available, and whether the team members have the time to properly perform design activities.

Included in the project plan and team should be any subcontractors and/or consultants retained by the design professional for the project. The review of the subcontractors’ and consultants’ work should be included in the plan, as well as project’s budget and scheduling guidelines.

The project plan is an important device for controlling risk exposure.

Review with Client

At regular intervals in the design process, the design professional should plan to meet with the client to review the design concepts being developed. Regardless of pre-design discussions between the Client and design professional, the design professional’s understanding of the client’s concepts and visions can begin to diverge as the design documents are being prepared. A design professional that has strayed from that vision, in the opinion of the client, faces potential redesign costs and claims for delay. It is incumbent upon the design professional to regularly meet with the client to ensure that the design phase and documents are proceeding in accord with the client’s understanding and concept, as well as any changes that the client may order.

Documentation of Decisions and Direction

Documenting project progress and activities is important throughout all phases of the project. During the design phase it is possibly most important. During the course of design, the client frequently provides design directions and decisions to various team members and via various means. Verbal direction is possibly the most common. Accordingly, the design professional can lose track of what is being requested by the client and what may constitute additional work entitling the design professional to additional compensation while increasing risk exposure.

It is essential that team members know to document the directions and decisions provided by the client. Whether in formal correspondence, fax or e-mail, any decisions that affect the design of the project or the project budget must be documented by the design professional and its team. It is nearly a given that a client will not recall any decisions made or any advice that the design professional may provide if and when a claim develops. Therefore, a written confirmation, concurrently provided is essential component of risk control.

Peer Review

Every design document that leaves a design professional’s office should be peer reviewed. Whether a report, study or drawing, at least two (2) sets of eyes should be critically reviewing the information and design criteria contained in each. No matter how skilled a design professional or design team, errors and omissions are part of the business.

A formal peer review process provides the design professional with an opportunity to catch those errors and omissions before the client or the contractor. A formal process internalizes the procedure so that employees are conditioned to seek out the performance of the peer review.

In addition to a review of the work product, the peer review process should include its documentation. The process should require employees to document each step of the process from review to responding to any comments or suggestions produced during the review, as well as retaining any red lining that occurs. This documentation allows the design professional to demonstrate that its process is seriously implemented and implemented uniformly.

A third party peer review of work produced should be considered when the design professional has undertaken a project that is a little out of the design professional’s normal project list.

Peer review of subcontractor and consultant work is a must. However, the design professional should not undertake to sign and seal a subcontractor’s or consultant’s work product. Signing and sealing another’s work product will make the design professional directly responsible for that work product.

Subcontractors/Consultants

The work provided by subcontractors and consultants to the design professional represents significant risk. Design professionals are frequently involved in claims arising directly from its subcontractors’ and consultants’ performance of work. Delayed performance of service; poor peer review; errors and omissions; a lack of control over the services provided; and coordination difficulties are a few of the occurrences that can result in claims.

Therefore, it is incumbent upon the design professional to ensure that its peer review processes and project plan development include its subcontractors and consultants. Additionally, the design professional must institute a formal process that guarantees that the design professional obtains a written contract with each subcontractor and consultant that incorporates the contract between the client and the design professional, and does not limit the subcontractor’s and consultant’s liability. Moreover, the design professional must ensure that it obtains each subcontractors’ and consultants’ insurance certificates and tracks their renewal periods. Subcontractors and consultants without insurance must be avoided at all cost. Although their costs may be less expensive, the cost associated with defending a claim arising from their work negates any cost savings their low bid represented.

Summary

Risk exposure during the design phase of a project is controllable. By taking the aforementioned steps, as well as others, the design professional’s risk can be controlled and mitigated.