The RIBA Plan of Work 2013

The RIBA Plan of Work 2013 organises the process of Briefing, designing, constructing, maintaining, operating and using building projects into a number of key stages. It details the general tasks and outputs required at each stage and as they may overlap or vary to suit specific project requirements. The definition of each stage is pivotal, because the stages act as milestones for agreeing and signing off deliverables, establishing professional services appointments and determining the activities of the many parties involved.

Introducing the Stage Guides series

This book is the first in a series of three stage guides to the RIBA Plan of Work 2013. It is a guide to Stages 7, 0 and 1 and deals with Briefing as one of the key elements of the continuous cycle of Briefing, designing, constructing that characterise good building projects. It is specifically about those stages that relate to the collection, review and analysis of information to inform a potential building project and ensure that the right decisions are made.

This book covers three stages of the Plan of Work 2014, each concerned with a different aspect of the Briefing process:

• Stage 7: the period when buildings are in use, as information is gathered, disseminated, analysed, assessed and reviewed in order to inform how a building is performing, to assess its continued viability or to inform an entirely new project.
• Stage 0: when a potential need for a building or project is being considered and defined by a client in terms of their strategic needs and business case.
• Stage 1: as the Initial Project Brief is put together for the project; its feasibility is tested; and the requirements of the project, in terms of the team needed to deliver it and the activities they will undertake to complete, it are being defined.

The second book in the series – A Guide to Stages 2 and 3 – describes what happens next, the development of a project from an Initial Project Brief into Concept Design and through Developed Design. It establishes the content of many of the project strategies and tools that are required to be used and agreed in order to develop an effective building design.

0.1 The stages of the Plan of Work 2013 and their role as review, design or delivery.

The third book in the series starts at the end of Stage 3, once the design has been coordinated. It describes how to turn the Developed Design into a Technical Design that will enable the project to be constructed, handed over and then to become part of ongoing assessment during Stage 7. It deals with the role of the project team during construction and what happens at Stage 6 when the building is handed over to the client. This process completes the circle with the start or continuation of Stage 7.

What is this book about?

This book is about ensuring that a project is set up well, so that future design and construction stages deliver what is needed by the client and what will work for those who will use the building. It is about ensuring that the information used to set up a project is based on evidence, is well documented and is discussed and agreed with the relevant parties. It is about the processes that are set out in the Plan of Work 2013 to help ensure that things go smoothly and that money, time and effort are not wasted.

The book is about asking questions, defining aspirations and outcomes, testing what works now and what is needed in the future, and examining what is deliverable. It is about making sure that once a project team are appointed to progress the design and construction of a project, what they do can be completed successfully.

Stages 7, 0 and 1 under the microscope

All built projects are a response to a question, problem or need that relates to a client or user group. To achieve a successful start to a new project it is important to first understand how similar ‘questions’ have been answered by others in terms of design, construction and in-use performance.

The gathering of information on how a completed building project performs in use is the purpose of Stage 7 of the Plan of Work, and is covered in Chapter 2 of this book. This chapter sets out what information should be gathered when and by whom, and how it might be used and shared to support the building owner or user, various user groups and a project team who are starting out on a new project. It is also about how information is shared with others interested in similar building types, organisational structures or technical or environmental strategies, and how these impact on those who will use and run the finished project.

Stage 7 In Use is located at the very beginning of the series because all building projects need to learn from the experience of others. We need to gather and share this information so that we can avoid repeating mistakes and can learn from evidence of what works: for people, in cost terms and for performance in use. Currently, much of the evidence used in creating new buildings is empirical, and this book makes a strong case for more rigorous data collection and analysis on a range of diverse issues – including how buildings make people feel and respond to their environments, and technical performance. This knowledge and information is the feedback/feedforward loop at the heart of achieving good outcomes at the end of the briefing, design and construction process.

Prior to the Plan of Work 2013, there was no formal process for any linkage between the end of one project and the start of another. The circle of stages established in the Plan of Work 2013 proposes this link at Stage 7 into Stage 0 as an important part of the process of creating an effective building or proiect. This guide explains how this linkage between the construction stages of one project and the definition and briefing of another project – via robustly collected and effective analysis, and in-use data – is intended to work.

Chapter 3 is about Stage 0 Strategic Definition, that time – before a project is a fully formed or defined idea – when a client and supporting team are working out the right approach for a particular set of circumstances and whether it has a sound business case. This chapter covers who is likely to be needed at this stage to assist and support the client, the methods that they might use to define and test a project, and the requirements for a good strategic brief that will form the basis of future work.

One of the key milestones in any building project is to do with being clear when that project has been successfully defined and is ready to set off on its progress through to briefing in Stage 1 and through the rest of the Plan of Work. The tests for knowing if you have reached the end of Stage 0 are covered in this chapter, as well ensuring that client objectives and vision are articulated, funding streams are identified and key information about the site is in place.

The final chapter in this book, Chapter 4, is about Stage 1 Preparation and Brief. It is concerned with the formulation and content of the Initial Project Brief, which will be the starting point for design work in Stage 2. It is also about the project team that will do the work to produce the Initial Project Brief in Stage 1 and additionally about the process for identifying and scoping the broader project team needed from Stage 2 onwards, some of whom may be the same people that have already been involved during Stages 7, 0 and 1. The roles of different team members and the skills that are required at this stage are also highlighted.

As the basis for future design work, getting the brief right is the key consideration. In order to achieve this, technical and baseline information needs to be in place, the client aims and objectives need to be fully understood and the capacity and feasibility of the site needs to be tested, building on the Strategic Brief and Business Case completed during Stage 0. Projects that proceed without having successfully completed Stage 1 – and that do not have a decent, tested brief in place – invariably involve abortive work and delay for the project team, as these things are worked out, and added costs for the client. The purpose of defining this stage clearly is to minimise the risk of later delay, additional cost and abortive work, and to make sure that the team can concentrate fully on the task in hand.

How to use this book

This book starts at stage 7 to illustrate the circular nature of the plan of work and to make the point that all projects must learn from those that have gone before.

However, whilst starting at 7 is obviously the best way to get the full detail of each stage and its transition to the next, it is also fine to start with the other chapters that may relate more specifically to issues you may be dealing with.