Design & Specification L1-3 Flashcards
WHAT IS THE RIBA PLAN OF WORKS?
Produced by the Royal Institute of British Architects, describing necessary construction stages from briefing to design, construction and operation of the building.
The plan of work outlines the stages and their inherent tasks / info required at each stage.
WHAT ARE PRELIMINARIES?
Description of the project as a whole, whilst they do not form part of the contract works, preliminaries specify general conditions and requirements for the contractor to assess costs, including:
- The site (description, access, parking, logistics)
- Brief description of the works (approvals, testing, completion procedures)
- Contract conditions (rectification, payments, insurance, collateral warranties)
- Management of the works (working hours, supervision requirements)
- Security, H&S requirements
- Site set-up and welfare
PLEASE EXPLAIN SOME OF THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF A SPECIFICATION FOR MATERIALS AND WORKMANSHIP?
Developed by the Construction Project Information Committee:
A) Preliminaries
B) Complete buildings / structures
C) Demolition / alteration
D) Groundwork
TELL US ABOUT YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF SPECIFICATIONS?
Specifications detail the materials and workmanship required for a project. Costs, quantities and drawn information is to be ready alongside, i.e. BoQ, Schedules, Drawings.
Each project has a unique spec.
Performance spec’s allow suppliers to innovate and provide cost effective solutions.
Prescriptive spec’s provide full design, resulting in improved client certainty but reduce contractor innovation.
Proprietary spec’s give reference to single product types, resulting in complete client certainty with no contractor innovation.
WHAT SPECIFICATION SOFTWARE ARE YOU AWARE OF?
National Building Specification (NBS) - Describes materials, standards & workmanship, and preliminaries.
Regarded as UK industry standard, providing latest legislation and British Standard for the relevant works.
WHAT ARE PREAMBLES?
Provides an explanation of a contract document, spec or BoQ, helping with interpretation of the documents.
Preambles may include description of parties involved, competence of those involved, background to the document, objectives of the project, summaries of negotiations taken place, tendering procedure adopted, etc.
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM SCHEDULES OF WORK?
SoW’s are a list of work required to complete a project, supported by drawings and specifications, it forms the basis of a contract between Employer and Contractor to deliver the project.
It differs from a BoQ as it is priced by item rather than quantity.
SoW should fulfill the purposes of:
- Pricing
- Product and material purchasing
- For construction
- Quality control
WHAT ARE PROVISIONAL QUANTITIES?
Defined by the New Rules of Measurement (NRM):
Work item where the quantity cannot be accurately determind at the time of executing the contract, an estimate quantity is given and identified as a ‘provisional quantity’.
WHAT IS A SCHEDULE OF RATES?
When the nature of work is known but cannot be quantified, the contractor provides unit rates against items that may form part of the works.
As the extent of works is unknown, the rates provided are for overheads, profits, general prelims, i.e. scaffold, power, supervision, welfare, or specific work items.
Over 18 month project may include escalation provisions.
WHAT IS A BILL OF QUANTITIES?
Specific measured quantities of work items identified by drawings/specifications in the tender documents.
Typically used on new builds / larger projects.
Provide fair & accurate tenders, taking precedence when errors or discrepancies occur.
Must be prepared in accordance with New Rules of Measurement (NRM) or recognised measurment methods.
PLEASE EXPLAIN BRITISH STANDARDS BS 7000 GUIDE TO MANAGING DESIGN IN CONSTRUCTION STAGES?
Guide published by British Standards Institute, provides guidance on Construction Design process for all types of construction projects, and establishes principles for efficient design management processes.
BS 7000 applies to purpose built construction, equipment and components, containing:
- Framework for Design Management
- Design Resource Management
- Design Process Management
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF STATUTORY EFFECTS ON DESIGN?
UK Building Regs ensure new buildings, renovations, conversions and estensions are safe for those using the building.
The Approved Documents are guidance documents, not enforceable, however provide design criteria:
- Approved Document A - Structure
- Approved Document B - Fire Safety
- Approved Document C - Site preparation and resistants to contaminants and moisture
- Approved Document D - Toxic substances
- Approved Document E - Resistance to sound
- Approved Document F - Ventilation
- Approved Document G - Sanitation, hot water safety and water efficiency
- Approved Document H - Drainage and waste disposal
WHAT IS BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING (BIM)?
Process of creating and managing the digital information of a built asset.
BIM Maturity Levels are:
- Level 0: Low Calibration - Info gathering, no cooperation, computer aided design to create drawings.
- Level 1: Partial Collaboration - Use of CAD to create 2D modelling
- Level 2: Full Collaboration - Sharing of project info within 2D and 3D models shared across project disciplines
- Level 3: Full Integration - Single collaborative project model inc. construction sequencing, cost and lifecycle management info.
WHAT IS A DESIGNERS RISK ASSESSMENT?
Designers use to identify hazards in order to eliminate / reduce them at design stage, those that cannot be omitted are highlighted for mitigation where possible.
HSE publish a red, amber, green list to assist designers…
Red (eliminated):
- Lack of preconstruction info
- Large quantities of dust generating process
- No safe provision of access for maintenance
Amber (eliminated/reduced):
- Manholes in circulation areas
- Use of solvent based products, particularly in confined spaces
Green (to be introduced):
- Permanent means of acess
- Edge protection
- Off site fabrication
WHAT ARE THE BUIDLING CONTROL PERFORMANCE STANDARDS?
Building Regs set the standards to be achieved within construction.
Building Control Performance standards ensure uniformity by LA’s and approved inspectors to adopt consistency when assessing compliance.
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM ‘DEAD LOAD’?
The constand load contained within a structure, made up of the weight of its members, superstructure, substructure, permanant attachments and accessories.
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM ‘ENVIRONMENTAL LOAD’?
Caused by changes to the weather and the buildings natural surroundings, i.e. wind force against external envelope, waves impacting against a bridge structure, coastal erosions and earthquakes.
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM ‘LIVE LOAD’?
Applied / imposed loads that vary over time due to occupancy of the structure, this includes people, furniture, vehicles, stored materials.
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM ‘POINT LOAD’?
Loading on a specific point, often referring to the loading of a specific element on the supporting structure below, i.e. column.
Point loads are calculated by total load over the objects surface attributing the entire load to its centre point.
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERM UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED LOAD?
The distribution of a load over an entire area, i.e. a concrete slab.
The total load is spread across the entire element and remains uniform throughout.
Example - 20Kn/m load acting on a 10m beam, uniformly distributed load is 200Kn.
PLEASE EXPLAIN YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERMS MODERN METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION?
RICS Guide - Modern Methods of Construction: Solution to Housing Crisis 2018, listed the following as MMC to assist with the housing crisis:
Cross Laminated Timber - Sustainable, structural, prefab panel to form walls, floors & roof components. Glued in longitudinal and transverse layers offering lightweight alternative to concrete / steel.
Modular Construction - Off-site fabrication in factory environment, transported and connected on site to form a building.
Design for Manufacture & Assembly - Adopted in automotive industry, could help construction increase consistency and quality.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN TAKEAWAYS FROM THE ‘DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION’ RICS GUIDANCE?
Design and the lead consultant
Principles behind the role
Design process management
Establishing the project
Outlining design and spec
Detailed design preparation
Design production
Towards building occupation
WHAT SHOULD THE APPOINTED LEAD CONSULTANT CONSIDER DURING THE DESIGN STAGE?
RICS Guidance Design and Spec 2013 states:
- Occupational design - consider end user
- Suit the current market place
- KISS philosophy - Keep It Simple Stupid, avoid complexity where possible
- Pragmatic solutions - Creative approach offers more than one design solution
- Critical design - Introduce a fundemental driver for design to aim for
Three leading factors impacting design from inception to completion - compliance, sustainability and safety.
Whether the project is notifiable under the CDM Regs - F10 notice. If not, in the absence of a CDM co-ordinator, the lead consultant should adopt the following during design/spec:
- Promote H&S precautions in design
- Seperate reporting on H&S issues
- Assess resource in terms of team experience
- Generate and co-ordinate early design risk assessment
- Consider health hazards, i.e. asbestos, legionella, fire risk, fresh air supply
WHAT KEY ACTIVITIES CREATE SUCCESS DURING THE DESIGN STAGE?
- Long term planning perspective with quantifiable performance indicators
- Identification of relevant parties and their roles and responsibilities
- Identify risk areas, strategise mitigation
- Identify resources, long lead-in times, specialist services
- Establish D&S processes required for project outcomes
- Deal with change control
- Monitor compliance and take corrective/preventative action
WHAT IS A CLIENT BRIEF?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
Final stage of defining the client’s requirements for a project, presented by the lead consultant and endorsed by the client.
The lead consultant should make the client aware of important factors that may influence the project:
- Design assumptions
- Areas of project uncertainty
- Strategies for change control
- Project budget and constraints
WHAT SHOULD THE LEAD CONSULTANT COMPLETE PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE ‘ROLES DEFINITION’ PHASE OF DESIGN?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
- Determine project organisation, roles and responsibilities of all parties
- Confirm the project objectives and define outcomes
- Identify risk areas
- Identify project resources
- Identify methods of change control
WHAT SHOULD THE LEAD CONSULTANT COMPLETE PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE ‘DESIGN PROCESS MANAGEMENT’ PHASE OF DESIGN?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
- Confirm project based integration system for all parties to access
- Determine protocols of designers responsibilities
- Reinforce design definition and change control
WHAT SHOULD THE LEAD CONSULTANT COMPLETE PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE ‘ESTABLISHING THE PROJECT’ PHASE OF DESIGN?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
- Guide the client through the briefing process, record their interactions to finalise
- Manage expectations, identify risks
- Issue an approved brief
- Highlight outstanding project options, establish programme
- Populate project information system
- Manage data recorded from info gathering / site visits
- Summarise findings and report to client
WHAT SHOULD THE LEAD CONSULTANT COMPLETE PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE ‘DESIGN AND SPECIFICATION’ PHASE OF DESIGN?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
- Assess risk areas of design
- Contingency planning
- Identify relevant legislation and review compliance
- Review against project brief
- Take opportunity for an independent review
WHAT SHOULD THE LEAD CONSULTANT COMPLETE PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE ‘DETAILED DESIGN’ PHASE OF DESIGN?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
- Identify performance and quality of project required
- Confirm warranties required
WHAT SHOULD THE LEAD CONSULTANT COMPLETE PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE ‘DESIGN PRODUCTION’ PHASE OF DESIGN?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
- Review design against brief
- Identify any changes
- Manage information portal, ensure consistency and accuracy
- Make recommendation to proceed with collated design
POST DESIGN, WHAT CAN CAUSE PROGRAMME AND COST UNCERTAINTY?
As noted in the Design and Spec RICS Guidance 2013:
- Changes in briefing outcomes
- Deviations in contractual obligations, responsibilities and rewards
- Variants against initial compliance interpretations
- Reactions to site revelations, i.e. initial assumptions
- Environmental changes external to the project
