Guide to Using the RIBA Plan of Work 2013 - Other - Page 55
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What
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D E SI G N T
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Design Responsibility Matrix
CO
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REFERENCE
AL
AM
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FREQUENTLY
Once the allocation of roles at each stage has been agreed and the Project
Roles Table prepared, together with the Contractual Tree to clarify contractual
relationships, the preparation of a Design Responsibility Matrix and Schedules
of Services, as well as agreement on the Information Exchanges, can progress.
These are important documents as they impact on the fees of each party and
ensure that the design can proceed without any ambiguities regarding who is
doing what. The purpose of each of these three core tools is summarised below.
The Design Responsibility Matrix considers and allocates responsibility for
each aspect of the design. A template for the matrix is included in Assembling
a Collaborative Project Team. The matrix, and early clarity regarding design
responsibilities, achieves a number of goals:
• It ensures that each designer is clear about their design responsibilities and the
level of detail to be achieved for each aspect they are designing, enabling their
drawings and specifications to be prepared accordingly.
• It ensures that the contractor is aware of any design responsibility obligations to
be 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 possibility
of disputes later in the design process, when the project team is likely to be
working flat out.
It is, of course, difficult to apportion precise aspects of the design before a design
exists; however, the Design Responsibility Matrix allows responsibility to be defined
generically at the start of the project based on experience from previous projects.
The Design Responsibility Matrix can then be revisited as the design progresses
and adjusted to reflect any changes in design responsibility that may be necessary.
For smaller practices that frequently work with the same structural engineer or
other designers, and that perhaps use the same products and/or assemblies
from project to project, the Design Responsibility Matrix can be generated and
then used from one project to the next. The matrix ensures that any design
responsibility being allocated to the contractor is clear from the outset, both to the
client and to other members of the project team, including the contractor.
The lead designer must pay particular attention to the Design Responsibility
Matrix as the matrix may affect their ability to carry out their duties and needs to
dovetail with the Schedule of Services for the performance of this role.
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