Overview

When a member of the public looks at a building they see the end product, the result of the design and construction process, but not the complex procedures and actions required to achieve that product. Each project is unique, with many unknown issues at the outset, and it is the successful interaction of all the parties under the control of the project leaders which enables the success of the project. For this you need a plan.

The RIBA Plan of Work 2013 organises the process of briefing, designing, constructing, maintaining, operating and using buildings into a number of key stages. The purpose of this guide is to provide an explanation of the practical matters an architect or other building professional should consider in the administration of a building contract through each of the Plan of Work stages.

In some respects the contract administrator role has changed little over many years, but the introduction of the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 – with its more complex procurement routes and project management role – provides the opportunity to revisit the tasks and procedures involved at each stage, particularly for the small practitioner on smaller projects.

This guide examines the contract administration issues typically encountered at each stage of the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 and how the contract administrator can control the process as the project progresses. It also considers working methods and provides checklists, tools and techniques to make the procedures more efficient and thus more cost effective.

What is the role of the contract administrator and the project team?

The contract administrator is responsible for the administration of the Building Contract, including the issuing of additional instructions and the various certificates required to allow for handover and occupation of the building until all the defects have been rectified and the contract concluded.

As outlined in the publication Assembling a Collaborative Project Team, every project, whether large or small, requires a number of roles to be undertaken. On larger projects it is likely that all the core project roles will be required – with the need for them varying from stage to stage – and it is likely that these roles will be undertaken by different parties.

On smaller projects the opposite is true as roles are typically combined, with the appointed architect carrying out the project lead, lead designer and contract administrator roles.

That said, on both large and small projects there are some stages when the contract administrator has only a minor role, with their main input being at the appropriate procurement stage and Stages 4 to 6.

Although traditionally it is the architect who has undertaken the contract administrator role, as projects become ever more complex this role is increasingly being undertaken by other specialists within the project team. Knowledge of what is involved in this role, as presented in this guide, would also be useful to others, such as:

project managers or cost consultant practices who would like to understand more about this subject and how their own services relate to it

Throughout the guide reference is made to the role of the contract administrator irrespective of which discipline is carrying out the role. However, the detailed requirements of the role may vary between projects, depending on the procurement route selected, etc. These differences have been highlighted in the text.

How is procurement identified in the RIBA Plan of Work 2013?

Within the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 procurement is set out as a generic task bar. This is because tendering activities do not have a specific place in the chronology of a project and will be dependent on the form of building contract and procurement route being used. To allow for different forms of procurement, users of the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 can create their own bespoke Plan of Work to suit their selected procurement route.

Once a bespoke Plan of Work has been created for the preferred procurement route, the tasks will vary according to the selected route and the tasks and procedures will be addressed at the appropriate stage.

Bespoke Plans of Work are currently available at

www.ribaplanofwork.com for five forms of procurement.

Within a bespoke Plan of Work the variable procurement task bar will fix the support tasks for the contract administrator relating to

Figure 1 The procurement task bar from the RIBA Plan of Work 2013

When should you go to tender?

the issue of tender documents, receipt of tenders and the awarding of the Building Contract. The key outputs will include finalising tender documents, which will incorporate drawings, specifications, schedules of work, health and safety information, terms of bonds and warranties and other tender information.

By generating these bespoke plans it can be noted that tendering procedures and contract award occur at different stages for the alternative forms of procurement and this will be addressed at the appropriate Plan of Work stage:

How to use this guide

Although this guide to contract administration can be used on its own, it can also be used in conjunction with the other handbooks in the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 series as well as other RIBA publications, such as the RIBA Job Book.

The structure of the guide follows the Plan of Work stages, from 0 to 7. Each chapter starts with an overview followed by details of the tasks and procedures the contract administrator would be expected to undertake for that stage. This is accompanied by checklists and typical examples which can be adapted to suit the nature and size of the project.

Tendering procedures are covered in Stage 4 although the timing of tendering activities will depend on the type of procurement route selected. The timing of the tender process has been highlighted at the stage appropriate for the procurement route.

The RIBA Plan of Work 2013 is available online at www.ribaplanofwork.com. As well as explaining in more detail the concept and content of each stage, this has been developed as a flexible tool to enable the creation of a bespoke practice- or project-specific Plan of Work containing the relevant procurement (tendering), programme and town planning activities. It can be tailored to accommodate specific project and client requirements.

With each procurement route there are a number of building contract forms that can be used: RIBA, JCT, NEC3, FIDIC and PPC2000. The choice of contract form is often dictated by the client, whether private or public sector, and the contract administrator will require an in-depth knowledge of the particular building contract being used. This guide gives an overview of the different forms, identifies where there are differences between them and provide links to where further details can be obtained.

When using JCT contracts it is suggested that this book is used in association with the NBS Contract Administrator software available from www.thenbs.com. NBS Contract Administrator provides an efficient platform for managing JCT/SBCC contracts and contains electronic copies of the official RIBA contract administration forms for use with the JCT standard, intermediate, minor works, and design and build contracts. These forms cover all the main activities, such as instructions, extension of time, interim/final payments and Practical Completion – the software filters the right forms for the particular contract at the appropriate time.

Using this series

For ease of reference each book in this series is broken down into chapters that map on to the stages of the Plan of Work. So, for instance, the first chapter covers the tasks and considerations around contract administration at Stage 0.

We have also included several in-text features to enhance your understanding of the topic. The following key will explain what each icon means and why each feature is useful to you:

• The ‘Example’ feature explores an example from practice, either real or theoretical
• The ‘Tools and Templates’ feature outlines standard tools, letters and forms and how to use them in practice
• The ‘Signpost’ feature introduces you to further sources of trusted information from books, websites and regulations
• The ‘Definition’ feature explains key terms in this topic area in more detail
• The ‘Hints and Tips’ feature dispenses pragmatic advice and highlights common problems and solutions
• The ‘Small Project Observation’ feature highlights useful variations in approach and outcome for smaller projects