The owner’s satisfaction during the project delivery is only conceivable if he/she has a consensual agreement with the other stakeholder at every developing stage of a project. Proactive collaboration from the onset of a project always leads to a successful and productive outcome.
A client, having a set outline and plan for the project in his/her mind, has a tendency to impose personal choices during the design or post-design phase. For ex. if a client is not certain with utility of the proposed layout for Kitchen or Bedroom, he/she may suggest changes during the construction phase. However, most clients usually find it challenging to interpret or convey the changes/ modifications in the permitted construction drawing set.
In case of a residential construction project based at Redmond, WA (USA), the client wanted to site-coordinate the Kitchen island orientation with the contractor. Initially, the client brought to contractor’s notice, a few 3d-visuals from the existing design model (see fig.1-3). Also, suggested changes were conveyed using sketches and updated plan for the Kitchen (see fig.4-6). The contractor, however willing to implement the modifications, could not follow-up proactively and ended up following the outdated permit set (which did not have the agreed changes). Going further, the project owner wanted to avoid any such instances of miscommunication which led to either rework or having to live with the undesirable design.
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For a client to practice his/her choices post-design phase, and rendering the desired modifications into the construction phase, it is necessary to hold accountability of changes. A constructive communication tool which allows to quantify the change in scope and ensuring punctual delivery is “Plan overlays” (see fig.7).
Fig.7
Plan overlay is an approach how we compared and presented the “Permitted drawing set” vs. “Proposed changes drawing”. This allowed the project owner to successfully communicate to the contractor, the change in scope and also come to an agreement on implementation of desirable changes. “Plan overlays” help to utilize the construction contract in a smarter and effective manner.
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