Managing the Development of Building Projects for Better Results
 

First published in 1981, updated for web presentation, Dec. 2000

Introduction | Principal Parties | Project Plan | Improving Performance
Project Life Cycle | Bar Chart Schedule | Manpower Loading Data
Information Explosion | Final Cost | Design Stages | Cost Effectiveness
Choices | Construction Costing | Value Management | Design Review
Cost of Building Ownership | Practice and Value Management | Summary

Traditional Practice and Value Management

Under traditional practice, the design professionals, architects and engineers, develop plans and specifications to meet the design criteria of the owner/operator. However, each design discipline being compartmentalized often by sub-agreement, tends to generate its own requirements and then review and modify these requirements more or less in isolation. Since each discipline tends to prescribe maximum performance and safety factors, in its own self-interest of professional liability, unilateral decisions are taken which may have the effect of modifying the criteria and standards of the owner.

Under these circumstances, decisions are reached which are not the most economical or acceptable for the end use of the facility. Effective decisions involving total overall costs require a team approach by people knowledgeable in all costs. The value management stages described earlier provide the means for this team approach.

To some, value management appears as an interruption to the design process, particularly as not all professional disciplines advance at the same pace. In fact, in building work, because of their logical dependencies, architectural design leads the parade followed by structural, mechanical and electrical, in that order. Thus, electrical design may be only 15% advanced when architectural design is already 60% complete.

In fact, the early application of value management accelerates design and saves time by clarifying design scope, avoiding unnecessary design work, preventing false starts and reducing time loss when budgets are exceeded. In practice, the tighter the schedule for design the more beneficial the application of a value management design review workshop.

The cost of these reviews may range from 0.1 to 0.5% of project costs, yet result in savings of 10% or more. A pay-off of up to 100 times is not uncommon, especially if it is determined that certain elements could be eliminated altogether!

Life Cycle Cost of Building Ownership  Life Cycle Cost of Building Ownership

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