Construction management: appointing consultants

Revision as of 15:34, 12 December 2011

At various stages of the project, the client may wish to appoint: independent client advisers, members of the consultant team, site inspectors and so on. As appointments can take place at any point they are presented here as a separate stage rather than continually repeating the tasks throughout the other stages.

NB The process of selecting and contracting trade contractors is described as tendering rather than appointment (see work stage: Construction management: tender) and the selection of specialist contractors is described in the work stage: Construction management: detailed design. For detailed tasks describing the appointment of the construction manager see work stage: Construction management: appointing the construction manager.

Additional information about how to find consultants, forms of agreement and so on can be found in the article appointments.

The tasks described below are based on the route taken by a project following a construction management procurement route where a construction manager is appointed early in the project as a consultant, and then takes on a management role for the construction of the project. We suggest that the construction manager is appointed on completion of concept design. Earlier or later appointment will result in some activities being re-allocated between the consultant team and the construction manager (for example the role of cost consultant).

Project plans for other procurement routes are available on the Designing Buildings Wiki home page.

NB This article is locked in order to preserve the logic and continuity of the full work plan. If you would like to propose changes or additions, click on the 'submit comment' link at the bottom of the page.

Construction management: appointing consultants.

A. Identifying the need to appoint advisers, consultants or designers.

1. The client identifies the need to make an appointment (this may be members of the consultant team, independent client advisers, site inspectors and so on). In some cases, existing consultants or the construction manager (if appointed) may identify a requirement and bring this to the attention of the client. NB For appointment of the construction manager see work stage: Construction management: appointing the construction manager.
2. The client may decide that they require advice or assistance from independent client advisers or member of the consultant team to help them make the appointment.
3. The client determines the selection procedure that will be adopted. This might be a process of recommendation, research and interview, open competition (with or without design), selective competition (with or without design), or an existing relationship such as a framework agreement. The client may have to follow a pre-determined procedure if there are in-house rules governing appointments, if they are a local authority or other public body, or if the project will be publicly funded. Such procedures may include assessing whether OJEU procurement rules are likely to apply, which can cause significant delays unless implemented early in the project, as the procedures that must be followed are quite lengthy.

B. Agreeing the exact nature of appointments required.

1. The client agrees the wording of any adverts that are required and if appropriate prepares a pre-qualification questionnaire.
2. If it has not already been done, the client prepares documentation describing the nature of the development (such as a strategic brief).
3. The client defines the schedule of services that will be required, selection criteria, form of agreement and contract terms for the appointment. NB The schedule of services that will be required might include services that are not included on standard forms of appointment, or may be considered 'additional services'. Additional services could include: post occupancy evaluation services, the use of building information modelling, the preparation of an outline planning application and so on. For more information see the article on appointments.
4. The client agrees the form of proposal that will be requested from candidates.
5. The client puts in place procedures for responding to queries from candidates.
6. The client prepares a formal request for proposals.

NB If design proposals are requested, it is best practice to offer payment to candidates. This ensures that candidates give their full attention to preparing their proposals (which is in the best interests of the client) and ensures that the candidates feel they will be treated fairly by the client.

C. Preparing a list of possible candidates.

1. The client prepares a long list of possible candidates, either from recommendations (perhaps from existing members of the consultant team or construction manager if appointed), existing relationships or expressions of interest received in response to adverts.
2. The candidates may be required to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire, or there may be some other assessment procedures (such as interviews) that results in the preparation of a short list invited to submit proposals. Such assessments may include evaluating experience and capability, checking professional indemnity insurance, assessing CDM competence, checking references and so on.
3. Short-listed candidates are invited to submit consultant's proposals in response to the client's request for proposals.
   

D. Selecting the preferred candidate and making the appointment.

1. The client collates responses to queries from candidates and issues these responses to all candidates.
2. The client receives and opens the consultant's proposals and makes a record of the fee proposals of each candidate. In some circumstances, fee proposals may be submitted in a sealed envelope and opened separately from the rest of the consultant's proposals so that the assessment procedure is not initially prejudiced by the fee (which it may be possible to negotiate down).
3. The client assesses the consultant's proposals (the client may seek advice from existing consultants or the construction manager if appointed).
4. The client invites the candidates to interview.
5. The client identifies the preferred candidate(s).
6. The client opens negotiations with the preferred candidate(s).
7. The client appoints the selected candidate and if appropriate arranges a consultant team start-up meeting with existing consultants and the construction manager if appointed.
8. The client informs other candidates that they have been unsuccessful. It is best practice to give clearly thought-out, specific feedback to unsuccessful candidates as they have taken the time to prepare proposals often for no fee. Candidates greatly appreciate this feedback and will be more likely to express interest in future projects.

Return to: Construction management: outline work plan.