Appointing Professionals
Professional services are infrequent, technical or unique functions performed by independent contractors or consultants whose occupation is rendering of such services.
The selection of an independent contractor or consultant providing professional services is usually based on skill, knowledge, reputation, ethics and creativity. Prices for services, even within the same field, vary greatly. Some professional service providers are able to give fixed rates for projects, while others define the price only after assessing the work involved. For this reason, it is common to hire professionals based upon an hourly fee and an estimated length of project (scope).
Professional services are not limited to licentiates (individuals holding professional licenses) the services are considered “professional” and the contract may run to partnerships, firms or corporations as well as to individuals. Typical examples of professional services include the following: accountants, actuaries, archaeologists, architects, attorneys, engineers, law firms, surveyors etc.
As with procurement of any service, there is a simple process to follow to ensure that the professional service is tailored to efficiently meet the needs of the purchaser.
- Structured selection of the ‘best’ professional’s for your purpose:- make a shortlist of candidates through recommendations, previous experience, review of portfolio’s, inspection of work etc. Request literature that outline’s the firm’s qualifications and experience. Visit their website. Above all talk to the professional. It makes sense to feel that you can work with the individuals who will be assigned to your project.
- Write a clear and precise brief describing the requirements and functions of your project. Engage the professional with this task to challenge their understanding of your requirements. Ensure your aims, reasons, authority and overall expectations are demonstrated.
- Ensure the price proposals reflect the brief and select the ‘best’ professional for your project.
- Appoint the professional. A good working relationship between professional and client is crucial to the success of any project. The scope of any professional scope of service and cost must be crystallised prior to any project is started. There are many ‘off-the-shelf’ agreements available for the procurement of professional services, i.e. RIBA terms of engagement for Architectural services, ACE agreements for various Engineering services, which are easy to understand and written in plain English. Whilst generic in nature, these documents lend themselves to easy amendment to ensure that they are customised to your specific project.
- Constant review and updates with regards to the quality, content and remains in line with your initial requirements and aspirations. Ensure that this process is written down in your agreement as, with almost all professionals, meetings cost money and will be excluded or deemed to be additional to the agreed scope if not defined!!!
Construction Approaches
There are two different approaches to construction projects. Design – Bid – Build and Design – Build.
Design – Bid - Build
The Design-Bid-Build approach to construction projects is where the customer, i.e. the Development Trust, would contract with various organizations to carry out the construction/renovation project. The project is serial in nature and has 3 key stages:
- Design
- Bidding
- Construction
Traditionally, in this first phase a Development Trust would secure an Architect to design and produce tender documents on which various general contractors will in turn bid. The Trust may decide to hire an overall Programme Manager who would be responsible for representing the Trust, to work with the Architect and develop the business plan to ensure that the design is “fit for purpose” and will create a sustainable solution to meet the community needs.
A conceptual or schematic design will be created in this stage. The project manager or architect may be responsible for bringing together other professionals such as, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineers (MEP engineers), a fire engineer, structural engineer and civil or structural engineers. These documents are then coordinated by the architect and put out for tender.
Design-Build
The Design-Build method is where a single entity is contracted to manage the design, planning and build aspects of the project. This is usually the general contractor, but can be the lead architect or engineer. The benefits of this approach for a Development Trust is that the project risk in minimized and typically the overall timeframe is reduced by running the design and construction phases in parallel. The main contractor in this case will be responsible for holding all design team contracts. The main problem with this approach is all the trust is put in one organization.
- When procuring the service of any professional do not get drawn in to over complicated and protracted scenarios. Whilst it may sound impressive at first, it will cost in the long run. Ensure that the scope stays relatively simple, whilst the subject matter may not be simple, the professional is being engaged to unravel the complexities of the subject and provide advice and direction based on his/her expertise in the area.
- Ensure regular updates are received on costs and disbursements to ensure committed costs are managed. Do not wait for the bill to drop through the door, they will be a lot higher than you were expecting. Unfortunately this element of surprise goes hand in hand with time related and expense arrangements unless managed effectively.
- Avoid work free gratis pre-engagement. Whilst tempting, you may find that an implied contract has been created. An example of this is a sketch drawing from an Architect hand written on a piece of paper. The Architect may have recourse at a later date for monies due to copyright surrounding that sketch even though formal contract was never entered into with that firm.
- Don’t be afraid to challenge the professionals advice. You may be surprised!
External Links
Law Society http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/
Royal Institute of British Architects http://www.architecture.com/
Royal Institute of chartered Surveyors http://www.rics.org/
Institute of Chartered Accountants http://www.icaew.com/