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Construction is a costly undertaking. Many people, in an effort
to reduce the cost, become penny wise and pound foolish. As in many
other fields information is really the key to wise cost management.
In general paying for information on your project will allow you to
get better quality for less cost. Listed below are 10 common
mistakes that can result in an unsatisfactory—and sometimes
unfinished—project.
1. Failing to retain an architect when your project is still a
twinkle in your eye. The architect can help you evaluate land and
determine the kinds of construction that will be necessary for
building on your land. They can
help you determine what you can afford and how to
get what you want. They can also identify things in your project
that will likely increase the cost of construction. For example a
moderately sloped site near a river or stream will require
substantially more erosion control work than a similar site that is
not near a stream.
2. Failing to limit your land lust. Why pay for what you don’t
need? Why pay for what you can’t use? Having your architect
help you set realistic requirements for space and land use can help
you identify the right parcel of land. It makes evaluating any land
under consideration easier. If it does not meet the minimum size
requirements you need not buy it. Similarly it is not necessary to
look for land any larger than what your projected needs are. You
can include land for future expansion if you are so inclined, but
there is no need to buy 40 acres if 10 acres will do. The cost of
the additional acreage may be just enough to overburden project
financing. In some cases selling the excess can actually help pay
for your project.
3. Failing to have your architect help you envision your financing
as part of the design process. There are many ways to achieve the
same end. Having your architect assist you with determining phasing
and value determination at this early stage may allow you to
continue with a project that you might have thought could not
occur. You might even want to have your architect suggest a
cooperative and innovative lending institution. Or introduce your
lender to your architect and get them to work things out together.
Yes, this can occur before any plans are done by using averages and
ranges based on historical data.
4. Failing to have your architect shine a realistic light on your
project budget. Many people think that it is easy to build for less
simply by declaring it so. They are often rudely surprised. Low
budget projects that are not carefully planned often result in
inadequate quality. Further, realistic opinions of project costs
include more than simply the construction. There are legal and
financing costs, moving costs, equipment costs at the new location
(computer networks for example). The construction budget needs to
allow for circulation and mechanical space as well as the space you
actually intend to use. Otherwise the project may be designed to be
too small at the outset. Building a building that is in need of
replacement or expansion before it is even begun is madness.
5. Failing to allow for contingencies and worse case scenarios.
What happens to your project if the builder goes bankrupt? What
happens if the soils turn out to be too weak to support your
building? Architects have dealt with these issues and more. It may
cost a bit up front to have soil borings, percolation tests, and
performance bonds, among other things. Having them ensures you that
the worst case is being dealt with in design and contracting and
not as a crises in the field which jeopardizes your project’s
successful completion.
6. Failing to give your architect enough freedom in determining a
design. Architecture is more than drawing. To become an architect
anywhere in this country a candidate must pass an exam of about
four working days in length, part of which covers the cultural
history of design in the western world. Many architects supplement
this with continual education and reading on design innovations.
Architects apply a lifetime to knowing about and creating better
design. The best results in working with an architect occur when
you allow the architect to share with you the experience they have
gained. Be clear about what it is you want to achieve but allow the
architect to suggest to you how to achieve it. There is a
difference between telling an architect that you want to have two
spaces relate in a certain way and telling them, “This is the
plan.” Let the architect help you to a design that would be
what you would ask for if you knew all that the architect
knows.
7. Failing to have at least two preliminary designs done for your
project. Design is a creative endeavor much like music. There is no
one right answer any more than there is one perfect song. Exploring
two or more solutions to your problem increases the likelihood of
finding innovative ways of achieving results. Even with the same
preliminary diagram, changes in structural systems, and visual
emphasis can result in dramatically different buildings. What is
learned from the two designs increases the quality of the final
product. Often the final result will combine elements of each
design.
8. Failing to have a clear design concept. A design concept is a
simple statement which talks about what governing principles or
ideas are essential to the project. This can be based on an
aesthetic, structural, ideological or marketing concept. What is
important is that the concept be clear so that it can be used to
assist in making decisions about the design and construction. Any
change order which is not technically needed and which does not
support the concept should usually be disallowed. A strong concept
will be useful right down to selecting furnishings after the
construction is finished. What made Frank Lloyd Wright's work so
stunning was his ability to form and use strong coherent
concepts.
9. Not taking the time to coordinate between disciplines during
design. Is there a downspout drawn in the same place as an
electrical conduit? Modern buildings are complex, even small ones.
To minimize problems in construction all the working drawings
should be reviewed at a coordination conference. This allows
mechanical, structural, plumbing, and electrical issues that were
discovered during the design of the project to be cleared by the
other trades. This prevents many problems in the field, reduces
change orders, and allows for more predictable costs. Pay for the
architect and the various engineering subconsultants to spend
adequate time reviewing this. Insist on it.
10. Failing to have the architect closely involved in the
construction phase. Unlike cars where a single design is tested and
refined and then 80 thousand to 100 thousand of them are built,
every design by an architect is a custom prototype. During
construction, technical issues which were thought to be minimal may
turn out to be a challenge. Sometimes this is the result of needing
to substitute a type of material or piece of equipment because the
item specified may be in short supply. Sometimes this is because a
design opportunity occurs to the owner or architect while the
building is being constructed. Sometimes it is because the poor
quality work of a single subcontractor can affect the high quality
work of others. Sometimes it is a response to concealed site
conditions. Involving the architect in construction helps maintain
the quality of the construction and allows you the opportunity to
optimize the design. Control of these changes and their costs are
essential for a successful project.
Louis B.
Smith Jr., AIA, is a member of the AIA Small Project
Practitioners Knowledge Community Advisory Group.
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