48 WhatCLIENTETRORACTPRTEAMECTOJD E SI G N TEXTERNDesign Responsibility MatrixCONREFERENCEALAMKED QUESTIOASNSFREQUENTLYOnce the allocation of roles at each stage has been agreed and the ProjectRoles Table prepared, together with the Contractual Tree to clarify contractualrelationships, the preparation of a Design Responsibility Matrix and Schedulesof Services, as well as agreement on the Information Exchanges, can progress.These are important documents as they impact on the fees of each party andensure that the design can proceed without any ambiguities regarding who isdoing what. The purpose of each of these three core tools is summarised below.The Design Responsibility Matrix considers and allocates responsibility foreach aspect of the design. A template for the matrix is included in Assemblinga Collaborative Project Team. The matrix, and early clarity regarding designresponsibilities, achieves a number of goals:• It ensures that each designer is clear about their design responsibilities and thelevel of detail to be achieved for each aspect they are designing, enabling theirdrawings and specifications to be prepared accordingly.• It ensures that the contractor is aware of any design responsibility obligations tobe included in the Building Contract.• It allows fees to be properly apportioned and considered by each party.• It reduces any ambiguities about responsibilities, minimising the possibilityof disputes later in the design process, when the project team is likely to beworking flat out.It is, of course, difficult to apportion precise aspects of the design before a designexists; however, the Design Responsibility Matrix allows responsibility to be definedgenerically at the start of the project based on experience from previous projects.The Design Responsibility Matrix can then be revisited as the design progressesand adjusted to reflect any changes in design responsibility that may be necessary.For smaller practices that frequently work with the same structural engineer orother designers, and that perhaps use the same products and/or assembliesfrom project to project, the Design Responsibility Matrix can be generated andthen used from one project to the next. The matrix ensures that any designresponsibility being allocated to the contractor is clear from the outset, both to theclient and to other members of the project team, including the contractor.The lead designer must pay particular attention to the Design ResponsibilityMatrix as the matrix may affect their ability to carry out their duties and needs todovetail with the Schedule of Services for the performance of this role.www.ribaplanofwork.com
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