Integrated Design & Construction
— Single Responsibility
A Chartered Institute of Building Code of Practice

Integrated Design & Construction
— Single Responsibility
A Chartered Institute of Building Code of Practice

Integrated Design & Construction
— Single Responsibility
A Chartered Institute of Building Code of Practice

The construction industry’s relative costs have steadily risen over the last 50
years or so, while profit margins of its contractors and sub-contractors have
been eroded to the level that is no longer sufficient to justify significant external
investment. Numerous reports have identified fragmentation of the industry’s
management structures and processes as the underlying cause of the waste
and inefficiencies that keep costs so high and margins so low. Despite several
well-meaning attempts, a system that genuinely reintegrates those structures
and processes has never been made available until now.
Single Responsibility Integrated Design and Construction (IDCsr) is a totally
integrated yet competitive form of procurement, design and project delivery
for construction Clients and IDCsr Constructors (IDCCs). Every practitioner necessary
for the effective and efficient design and construction of the project is
employed or engaged by the IDCC Company. The leader of the IDCC team, and
therefore the whole process, is the IDCsr Project Manager (IDCPM). Some of the
key issues for which the IDCPM is responsible include dealing directly with the
Client and Client Team Manager (CTM), welding all the IDCC’s practitioners into
a lean, wholly integrated production team and on behalf of the IDCC company
accepting full responsibility for the design and delivery of the complete project,
backed by the IDCsr Project Insurance policy cover.
With all designers securely embedded within this integrated structure, Client
need, particularly cost certainty, will take precedence over design-centric
aspirations. The IDCsr Sale Agreement Model Terms and Conditions are
therefore based on the sale and purchase of a customised finished product at
a pre-agreed fixed price. The IDCsr process is intended to make it as simple
and satisfactory to buy a building as it is to purchase any other high-value,
warranted manufactured product.
To assist Clients in getting the best results from the IDCsr system, they need
to appoint an experienced CTM to advise and assist the Client Project Sponsor
and Client team. The CTM’s key role is to guide the Client team in establishing
their fundamental needs, developing and testing the business case to support
them and from that preparing the Project Definition. The Project Definition must
describe precisely and comprehensively what the Client really needs and wants
from the project, together with a realistic and fundable budget. The CTM then
goes on to become the Client’s interface with the IDCC during the concept,
design and delivery stages of the project.

Colin Harding