Managing the building design process
Second Edition
by Gavin Tunstall

Managing the building design process: There can be little doubt that towards the latter part of the twentieth century, the creation of many new buildings in the UK had become an excessively confrontational process, encouraging clients, designers and builders to seek to gain advantages from one another rather than to work constructively together.

Strict adherence to ‘professional’ roles and an unwillingness to step over historically defined boundaries discouraged co-operation and collaboration.

Blinkered by contracts, time scales and costs, the process often appeared to be cramped in an over-demanding, claims-conscious environment, fixated by narrow aims and responsibilities, seemingly unable or unwilling to reflect a genuine concern with quality or customer care.

The Latham and Egan Reports, published in the 1990s described this situation as wasteful and very significantly, that it was contributing to a diminution in the quality of both design and construction.

Managing the building design process: The reports laid the foundations for substantial on-going changes in practice and guidance developed during the past 10 years.

The process of designing and constructing new buildings is a complex activity reflecting the skills, perceptions and expectations of many individuals, who must attempt to respond to technical and philosophical challenges, resolve debates and deal with the inevitable conflicts associated with working together.

The associated personnel difficulties and contractual obligations cannot be dismissed lightly, but in an ideal scenario, everyone should be capable of appreciating how and why decisions are taken so that there is a better chance of achieving the best possible results under the prevailing circumstances.