Collaborating with contractors

Arup's CO-Director Jeff Willis talks to Architect about the intricate collaboration-or lack thereof-between architects, engineers, contractors and clients.

Contractors are looking for cost-effective materials. Architects are looking to create their vision, regardless of how or how much. Is that an accurate description?

JW: From my point of view, you get different sorts of architects and different aims for the architecture. The architect will definitely have a clear view on what they want their building to look like and what materials will convey the right impression.

A contractor doesn't necessarily try to change that unless there is some inherent problem with either the construction or procurement. If you've got a very tight programme or something that needs fixing, then you'd be looking to make changes.

A contractor really wants something that is easy on his programme as well as being easy on his price. He will have a fixed price and quite clearly be trying to procure and get approved materials that are easier to find, cheaper to transport and less expensive than the competition.

At the end of the day, once the project is finished, the architect has succeeded if he's got a building that demonstrates his skills and the contractor has also succeeded if he's got a building that has allowed him to make money.

Those seem like conflicting initiatives and opposing forces?

I think they can be. If something that is required by an architect presents particular problems for a contractor-especially if it gets him in trouble with his programme with regard to liquidated damages-he is usually going to get very vocal, then very angry about that.

The reason conflicts occur is because there is an imbalance somewhere. The heart of that imbalance may lie in the architect and client wanting to use certain materials to convey an impression-materials that have a time-cost associated with them-which the contractor cannot deal with, but will nevertheless be charged with liquidated damages if he's late. This kind of conflict is inherent here and it's what normally produces arguments.

In this market and this region how do you sidestep conflicts?

It's all about good and not-so-good design. During the design process, if the architects and engineers are interested in designing for buildability, they should be considering all of these things as they proceed. Together, they should be ensuring that anything that may have an impact on programme or cost is being accounted for very early in the design process.

We do operate in a market where time is a major constraint. If you ask a contractor to do something that is particularly difficult or completely different from what he normally does, it's very difficult for him to estimate the programme time required and, sometimes, very difficult for him to complete according to his contract.

If the engineer, with the architect, is doing his job at the beginning to make sure buildability is properly considered, then conflicts will be minimised. But, I really cannot say that engineers can ever mediate these things away once they've occurred.

When it comes down to it, it should be entirely dependent on how strongly the client wants to retain something that is there, regardless of whether its architecturally relevant or just simply preferred.

Just to be clear, the loyalties of architects, engineers and contractors are always to the client?

Yes. Absolutely.

Is that also true when considering the context of the Middle East?

It's true that everyone employed by somebody usually demonstrates some level of loyalty to their employer because they want to continue to get paid, and maybe, be employed in the future. I don't see anything that represents disloyalty in this market.

What do you see?

I always end up in conversations about levels of quality. People tend to work in environments that they're used to. If, for ten years, you've been working in a situation where the client says, "I want a building like this" and the whole team just produces it as quickly and cheaply as possible, that usually results in quite a low level of quality.

If, on the other hand, the client asks, "What do I want to do in this market? How can I do that best? What is the best way to approach this project from an architectural and engineering point of view?" that will often result in a very different, and much higher, level of quality.

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM