When you start a construction project it is essential that you create a DPC (The Detailed Programme to Completion) in order to save time. Let me tell you more about that here.
Starting the project
What happens is that someone fairly high up in an organisation decides they want something 鈥渃onstructing鈥. This may only be an office fit out which, technically, doesn鈥檛 involve much construction but has to be done for them by experts from the Construction industry. The Client is faced with problems from this point on!
Problems coming up
They have to put a team of their internal employees together first and these people all fall out with each other about what their own departments need! 鈥淚 need more space, so your department will have to make do with fewer staff鈥 kind of thing! Once they have been at this for a while the Client will appoint Architects and possibly Engineers to begin developing the Project Plan and coming up with the Building design. This starts another whole round of arguments with even more people involved in them!
The Architects come up with their design concept and the Engineers struggle to fit in the M&E services! Then the Client doesn鈥檛 like it and nor do the employees involved! 鈥淢y lady with the bad back can鈥檛 sit under a HVAC outlet!鈥 and 鈥淚鈥檓 claustrophobic so I need more windows putting in there!鈥 Eventually, and it usually takes a full calendar year, some kind of agreement is reached and there are Project Plans for the Building Design which are submitted to Town Planners and Building Control for Approval. The original submission, almost, it seems, as a matter of principle, is rejected for one reason or another! Back to the drawing board, as it were, but this involves very little input from the client鈥檚 people. Just modifications from the Architect or Engineers and the Application is re-submitted and, this time, passed! Detailed Planning Permission granted 鈥 and it has only taken 18 months since that 鈥渟omeone鈥 decided they wanted it!
The use of a Detailed Programme To Completion
We have Project Plans for Building design and Construction! Courtesy of AutoCAD and Plotters these are banged out, along with the BoQ and Specifications, and Tenders requested. A main contractor is chosen and work will soon commence on site. Rule of thumb the actual 鈥渃onstruction鈥 will be done in six months or less!
A quick mention of what I saw as 鈥渁mbiguous鈥! Whenever I see 鈥減roject鈥, 鈥減lan鈥 and 鈥渃onstruction鈥 together what do I think of? The Detailed Programme to Completion (DPC)! Now what I can tell you is based on hard experience when I鈥檝e had contracts working client-side. If construction clients have a 鈥Detailed Programme鈥, the 18 months they waste arguing internally gets cut down to about 6 months!
CHECK OUT: WHY YOU NEED A DETAILED PROGRAMME TO COMPLETION
Summing up
Doesn鈥檛 that just go to show how clever we 鈥渕uddy boot brigade鈥 are! It is a strong argument for potential construction clients to employ one of us as their own Project Manager immediately they鈥檝e got the idea in their heads that they are going to have to develop for building design and construction. The only down side, again from hard experience, is that we end up by being very unpopular, because of all the toes we鈥檝e trampled on, with everyone except the person who employed us!