Project preparation

Complete building your team

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By now you and your advisors have developed the brief and decided on your procurement route. This means you can start to appoint the number of different specialists that will be needed. These may be found either in a few multidisciplinary practices, or in a large number of individual sources. The composition of the team will also vary, dependent on the size and complexity of your project, and who is running it and the procurement route you have chosen.

The essential team below should be regarded as a minimum. Look at the roles they all perform. It may be that some roles can be doubled up – for example, the project manager may be a quantity surveyor, or the interior designer may be employed by a design and fitting-out specialist. In any case, all aspects of the project need to be covered.

The essential team will be directly involved at all stages of the project and the sooner this team can be assembled, the better the project will run.

IQ Checklist 36.2 Selecting a member of the team: general points

Track record
This will speak for itself. Look for experience of working with clients in your particular market sector. Ask for references from current clients and visit completed recent projects similar to yours. Find out about their reputation.

Qualifications
Are there any professional bodies they should belong to?

The people
What is their technical skill and knowledge?
Look at the qualities of the people you meet
Are you going to be able to get on with them through the life of the project?

Resources
Can the firm handle your project – is it too big, is it too small?

Location
Is it important for a firm to be close to you or close to your site? (It might be more convenient for you to have easy access to your team than for them to have easy access to your site)

Communication
Do they use your language or do they speak in jargon you don’t understand?

Understanding
Do they appear interested in, and understand your needs and your brief. If not, it is doubtful you will ever get what you want from them.

Overall abilities
Do they have the ability and qualities to implement the brief and achieve your objectives?

Quality assurance
A firm may display the ISO 9001 accreditation, as a measure of quality assurance. This is a good indication that the company’s administration procedures are well organised. It doesn’t, however mean that the designs or advice they provide are any better than a non-accredited company. Look for much more than quality assurance alone when making your selection.

Financial status
Check that the company has a strong financial track record, and make sure that its professional indemnity insurance cover is at the required level.

You will need to select these advisors carefully. Checklist 36.2 gives you a general guide to the points to consider, irrespective of the profession of the advisor.

IQ Checklist 38.1 Design and fitting-out specialist

Services offered

A “one stop shop” for design and fitting-out of office interiors
Full design responsibility
Full fitting-out responsibility
Cost control
Furniture
Move management

Selection criteria

Track record / performance
Look for experience of your type of project. Ask for references from current clients and visit completed recent projects. Find out about their reputation. Be assured that they deliver on time and to budget.

Quality of work
This will be the best indicator. Arrange to go and look at recent projects that the firm has completed.

The people
What is their technical skill and knowledge?
Are you going to be able to get on with them through the life of the project?

Resources
Can the firm handle your project – is it too big, is it too small?

Price
Some design and fitting-out specialists will specialise in high quality; others will specialise in large projects, others both. Check that your project is going to be of a size and type that the design and fitting-out specialist normally carries out.

Location
Is it important for a firm to be close to you or close to your site? (It might be more convenient for you to have easy access to your team than for them to have easy access to your site)

Communication
Do they use your language, or do they speak in jargon you don’t understand?

Understanding Do they appear interested in, and understand your needs and your brief. If not, it is doubtful you will ever get what you want from them.

Overall abilities
Do they have the ability to implement the brief and achieve your objectives?

Is what you see what you will get?
Check that the people that you meet during the selection process are the people that you will work with, and not just “front men”.

Financial status
Do they have the right level of financial stability and insurance cover to survive the sometimes financially precarious construction industry?

Each type of company will bring its own expertise to the project. It is important to ensure that the project does not become over-biased in any one direction, say furniture or fit-out, at the expense of other areas, such as design or IT. It will be necessary to involve more than one kind of consultant to ensure that an overall balance is achieved. Taking time at this stage will save time and money later – the right team will deliver the right project.

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