Estimating design efforts in design management is the fourteenth article of a series. Articles about design management in architecture practice. I have discussed in the previous articles what is design management, who is the design manager in practice. Also, firm or project design management plan, what are the key functions of a design management plan in practice? In addition, what needs to be managed in architecture firm? This article is the ninth article on building and writing a design management plan.
In this article on estimating design efforts, I will discuss and illustrate what factors affect the successful delivery of the project design process. Factors identified in the design management plan by the design manager. Firms categorize them into four groups related to the building type. Uncertainty, urgency of the project and work, characteristics of stakeholders, and tools and management.
To estimate accurately the amount of work required, it is necessary to analyze the difficulty of the project. In addition to the work identified through the work breakdown structure (WBS). The following factors contribute to the variation in effort required for design projects.
Design manager defining building size & technical complexity.
Building size is the first in this group category. The design manager identifies the amount of work and the number of team members required to finish the drawings and design. For example, a villa project only includes the concept design, preparing mostly two floors, elevations, and sections. Surely, that excludes the required work for engineering, specification, and BOQ for tender.
A residential building is another type of building that varies in size depending on the project requirements. For instance, I have designed buildings composed of 150 flats and buildings that include only 20 flats. Here you have the concept design, the architectural design of several floors, elevations, and sections. Adding to that, the engineering work, specifications, and BOQ for tendering. See Figure 1, the building size example in estimating design efforts.
Building complexity is the level of innovation and special architectural design and process required for the building. Architects design buildings to fit their context and produce innovative concepts. A work that requires special architectural design for its external form, the functional layout. Also, to follow the required functional architecture standards. For example, the Bilbao Museum in Spain is a live example of this complexity. The required structural expertise to design the structure to fit the architectural design. In addition, the complexity of the MEP services design to fit the building itself. The design manager to ensure continuous coordination for this type of project to realize it. The number of team members to finish the spec’s documents and the bill of quantities for the project.
Technical complexity is the amount of innovation required for the architectural design. The small villa project is different than a residential building. An office building is different than a bank building. A museum is different than a library building. See Figure 2, the building type and complexity in estimating design effort.
Uncertainty and urgency of a project
Uncertainty comes in various forms, for example planning authority’s change of rules and regulations. Changes to their regulations of the approval process. Additional requirements for the project to obtain approval, such as sustainability requirements and green building certification. Change of project design from the client side that requires major changes to building layouts and forms. The uncertainty of the project plot criteria. For example, the increase in water-table level and the existence of cavities in the soil affect the selection of the structural system. And other factors like the team members change (left, fired).
Urgency is the quick required action by the design manager and the firm on the awarded project due to the importance of the client. For example, the client is a government body that supplies the firm with occasional projects. In addition, a VIP client that pays very well to the firm and brings higher benefits to the company. The client provides special types of projects that add value to the firm, such as leisure and hotel projects, urban design projects, and planning projects.
Project stakeholders in estimating design efforts
Client characteristics are the factors that affect the project design, progress, and construction. I have shown the types of clients in my previous article: Cooperative, challenging, and uncooperative. The factors that affect the firm’s work in reality are the client’s education level, his financial status. Also, his company or organization type, and the type of employees he has in his company.Finally, the amount of knowledge about architecture he has. As well as the culture of people in the firm and the context of the firm’s location.
Design Team Characteristics are the related ones to team members’ skills, experience, and attitudes. I have illustrated that in my previous article on skills matrix. Also, how the design manager identifies the potential members of the team for a specific type of project.
Project team characteristics are the factors that directly affect the process of designing the project. The level of concurrent design is the series of steps, including defining the problem and design requirements. Also, invent ideas, evaluate, and select design concepts. In other words, who will the design manager select for this type of work, and what is his personality?
Design and communication tools and management process
Estimating design efforts includes studying and analyzing the Design and communication tools. They are the tools used by the firm to complete a project in the process. They are required to transfer project-updated information within the design preparation process, such as Microsoft Teams. Others include tools that the team uses to transfer data, documents, files, and project work-related information. Like work schedules and timing, it’s either by email or an IT-built system. Design tools include the software available for preparing the project-related design and drawings. These include presentations, reports, and studies. Also, project construction documents like spec’s and Bills of quantities.
All consultant firms in the UAE use the same design tools. Those who are always available for preparing the project-related drawings and documentation. The firms are different in using communication tools, as the smaller firms use regular but not advanced software. These are either readily available or company-built software. Small firms rely on MS packages that are mainly affordable for small-scale companies.
Design tools include presentation Software such as Adobe, 3Ds Max, SketchUp, Rhino, Lumion, and others. And other software such as AutoCAD, MicroStation, and Revit.
Management process is the process of workflow from the high to the low firm level. As illustrated in my previous articles, the organization chart of staff involved in the design process. Some firms include design managers, project managers, and director-level staff for a project. The amount of time every staff member is reserved for every project and means of contact. The design method and model used in the design are like the traditional model or the sequential model. The cycles of coordination and monitoring for a project by the higher-level staff, and what system used.
Finally, I conducted design research with a team to study six projects in practice in different phases. We categorized the project’s difficulty into three A, B, and C.
(A) Relatively easy
(B) Not too difficult
(C) Very Difficult
The design research outcomes revealed that the design manager to
(A) Allocate less time (5%)
(B) No special measures required
(C) Allow extra time (10%)
Also, other related articles you can find in these links 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
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