Coordinating differing disciplines: Commitment and accountability?

A repeat/revisiting of The DEC 16, 2007 Blog entry. This one bears repeating because in this difficult economy, it is important to keep a perspective on the teamwork necessary to execute and implement a building.

Building design and construction requires cooperation between a dozen or more actors.
Design-Build-Operate Network Diagram

There is an architect designing the overall building. Another firm may do the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing design. Another firm does the civil design and still another firm does the structural.

5 design disciplines by 5 different designers.

Each one working on a separate set of documents.

Theoretically in synch.

We are committed to following and coordinating with the architects. To the nearest half inch, with the owners needs the priority. Nothing new there. Given schedule and productivity demands, it is good and necessary to design aggressively and quickly. Without knowing all the details. AHEAD of the architects design process. It is a designing with the end in mind, a a kind fast track, if you will. Often it seems to put the cart before the horse, but using experience and cooperation, we can and often do anticipate the architecture and the appropriate MEP solution ahead of time. I find this gains better agreement. But it certainly is a challenge.

The building design as a product. It’s a set of plans for a ‘thing’ that one can stand back and look at, an edifice; a concrete and steel object. But design occurs as a sequence of events or milestones, of course.

The architect must design with M/E/P spatial requirements already accounted for, because we tell them ahead of time. The early incorporation of HVAC mechanical and electrical needs are necessary. As the design progresses, all the pieces and details are accumulated and, hopefully, incorporated into the coordinated design. While we know the scale of needs almost from the git go, we must discover the optimal details as we go. Optimal equipment selections, piping and ductwork, so vital to constructability, only occurs AFTER a process of sharing information and coordinating between the disciplines.

This process, which is iterative, (known commonly by their names as schematic design, design development and construction document phases), increases the complexity of the design as it approaches the final state. The various disciplines refine their connections and physical placement more and more. Finally the result is the “construction documents”, a complete design. It must fully describe a biddable, constructable and functioning building. If we have correctly envisioned the product ahead of time we have successfully “designed with the end in mind”. However, we will often find out just how well or badly we did this during the construction phase, but thats a subject for another day.

Communication between the different players, especially when they are in different physical locations or different firms is a challenge. With the power of technology, such as the internet and CAD, we like to think progress has been made. However, in my opinion, nothing has really improved much since drafting pencils, mylar and blueprint machines were de rigeuer. As much as we would like technology to be an answer, its really about the people involved.

Sometimes I feel like MEP design is ignored, relegated to the back of the bus if you will. (Why is that MEP spec sections are the 15th, 16th and 17th sections in the old 18 section specifications book? A subject for another posting)

In the rush of reaching the construction document phase, the various players, architects and engineers, do not always stay in synch. How to make them tighter and resolve this issue?

A THEORETICAL APPROACH and SOLUTION

Commitment reinforced and Win-win results

Stephen R. Coveys book, The 8th Habit (Free Pess, 2004 ), in my opinion, is required reading for the design team. He said that successful team work includes of the following in the left side, with my reaction on the right.

Successful team work includes	What we can do to implement the left side
Focus on the wildly important	We do this already, under time demands. Now we just have to promote it.
Create a compelling scoreboard	Milestones come and go, the trick is to maintain it
Translate lofty goals into specific actions	Where leadership says "make it so".
Hold each other accountable all of the time	Need to work in tandem with mutual respect and commitment

Further, Covey says that a win-win agreement consists of several simple things.
In the context of multi-discipline coordination and integrated design, building
design should focus on these as well: