The In-house Client Team

The In-house Client Team

Introduction There are many aspects to being a client it is no simple task. But one of the strengths of a client for a building project is recognising the range of skills you need, and making sure you are resourcing your project correctly. Building a youth centre isn t simple. Too often, hard-pressed clients are too busy with their day jobs and underestimate the level of commitment required, especially at the beginning of the project. How to run the in-house client team What kind of skills do I need in-house? Of course young people are the key to a youth centre. To deliver a construction project you need to be an effective client, and represent the needs of young people. In some projects, a single individual may carry out several roles. Although the terms used here are not necessarily used by all organisations, the activities described all need to be carried out by people with the right skills and experience whatever they are called and however the activities are divided up. Your team will vary in size depending on the complexity and scale of your project. Some may come from inside your organisation, while some may be employed for the period of your project. You may need to retain others as external consultants for all or part of your project. Key roles to consider are: lead client other team members such as facilities manager, board members, young people, human resources independent advisors How much time do these roles take up? Clearly, your project circumstances will dictate the number of team members that is suitable, and available. Some of these jobs such as the lead client require considerable time commitment while some can be done on top of another job. Depending on the nature of your project the roles could be carried out by a full-time professional or by an existing member of staff with a watching brief. 2

Representing the client the client lead The lead client is the lead person representing your organisation the client. The lead client s role is to: act as client throughout the project, representing the whole organisation develop an agreed management structure set priorities to meet the vision sign-off stages as the project progresses ask searching questions of all those involved in supplying and interpreting information, to make sure it is clear and relevant accept risks that may be implied by options considered or adopted communicate with the change management team about implications of the new building. The lead client needs to be assertive, a good communicator and skilled at creating positive team interaction. They should be politically astute, highly motivated and a shrewd decision-maker who can make people believe that your project should, and will, happen. The lead client should be aware of the needs of all stakeholders and have a direct and open relationship with the interest groups in your organisation. The lead client needs to be appointed early on, since their key job is to act as client throughout the project. With youth centres, a strategy to delivering young people s input into the process needs to be developed early on. Involving young people effectively The best youth centres are designed with the needs and aspirations of young people at the forefront. And the best way to achieve this is to involve young people throughout the process as part of the client team. They will need help and support as will everyone who hasn t done this before. Approaches will vary from project to project but avoid involving young people only in token discussions about colour schemes. You can achieve full involvement of young people most effectively by specifying this as a requirement for the professional team and involving young people in making the appointment. High level support For some projects, the chief executive, owner, a board member or equivalent may take on the role of a design champion. In small or voluntary sector organisations, board members may have more experience of construction projects than the lead client the operational person leading the project. If so, they will be able to describe their experiences of different procurement and contract options, developing sound procedures and suggesting and choosing specialist advisors. A design champion s role is to: articulate the vision and the desire for high quality design formulate client aims for quality of design, and ensure these are clearly stated within the outline brief help to define, check and evaluate quality throughout the process if necessary, insist on changes to maintain quality sign-off initial business case and feasibility if there is no lead client choose a lead client for day-to-day management, if needed. 3

Facilities manager: managing the completed building The facilities manager manages the building when complete and arranges contracts and management of services such as security, cleaning and deliveries. Increasingly, this role is crucial, especially with the need for carbon emission reduction over the lifetime of our buildings. While it is not always possible to hire the person who will actually manage the finished centre, the expertise of a hands-on building manager can be useful at a very early stage. Having your existing facilities manager, or an external expert on board at the briefing and design stage is a simple action that can make a great difference to a building in use. You will also need to understand what other specialist in-house advice you will need Possibilities include: finance experts business case and budget preparation a lawyer to review all contractual documents before they are signed particularly if they are non-standard and for specialised legal requirements human resources for consultation processes, recruitment and staff contracts when the project is complete information technology to consider the impact of realistic IT developments special user representatives a user team of young people, for example an access user group, or individuals such as a wheelchair user, a visually impaired person, to provide input to briefing, design checking and post-project evaluation a commissioning officer who understands the systems and rules for operating current or similar premises and will focus on the operational aspects of the new project. Understand your own strengths and weaknesses. Every project benefits from independent client advice. The size of your team depends on your project s complexity. In-house teams retain skills and knowledge within the organisation. Develop a clear reporting structure for good decision-making. At their best, the design and construction industries can deliver excellent buildings. But your project needs a strong client to make sure that your vision and objectives are delivered, so that you get what you want, not what they want to give you. Good client decisions will not guarantee successful outcomes but bad decisions will make them extremely unlikely. 4

Links and Further Guidance The various roles for clients in the construction process is described here at www.cabe.org.uk/buildings/building-the-team Preparing for use and fine tuning the project often takes a lot of time and energy. For more information see www.cabe.org.uk/buildings/use Remember, you need your project vision to be maintained throughout. For more information about project visions see www.cabe.org.uk/buildings/developing-a-vision-statement 5