Job Book 9th Edition - Book - Page 310
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Stage 6 > Handover and Close Out: Supplementary Material: 6/SM3
6/SM3: Debriefing
Obtaining valuable lessons with the benefit of hindsight is unlikely to be an
activity commissioned by most clients, but it is a worthwhile exercise and, for a
truly objective report, impartial ‘auditors’ could be engaged.
Debriefing after completion is something which should happen in all major
projects to some extent. A series of meetings convened by the architect who
acted as project lead could achieve this, as follows:
• meetings between the architect and CDM coordinator to evaluate matters
related to compliance with the CDM Regulations
• meetings between key design team members and the contractor to
evaluate design and technical aspects of the project
• meetings between the architect and the contractor to evaluate the management
of the construction of the project.
A frank exchange of views might be expected at meetings, and the success
of the operation will depend very much on the cooperation of all parties
involved. Opinions on, for example, the overall timescale, the effectiveness of
cost control, whether contract administrator’s instructions including variations
could have been avoided, whether drawings production and issue could have
been improved, whether site reporting and quality control were effective, etc.,
might provide valuable lessons for future projects. Obviously, the time spent on
this kind of operation and the cost of meetings has to be weighed against the
fact that the project is usually a ‘once only’ occurrence and the particular team
might never again be assembled. However, for repeat clients and consultant
teams, this exercise will be very useful in establishing working relations for future
projects. RIBA research shows that approximately half of architects’ workload
comes from existing clients.
