Haines/Office Space Planning, Part 4

77

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

The advantages of this approach are that you as the

Given this set of relationships, it is important to un-

owner get actually what you want and there are checks

derstand who on the development team influences which

variable.

and balances in the system to make sure you are getting

what your paying for. For instance, the construction doc-

Quantity

uments that the architect develops for you (under the

owner-architect contract) are the primary documents that

Typically, the owner controls the quantity of space

form the backbone of the owner-contractor relationship.

that is needed. He or she may decide that three more exam

The contractor builds the work described by the archi-

rooms and ten more chairs in the waiting room are needed.

tect's documents, and the architect reviews the contrac-

This establishes the quantity of space that is being built.

tor's work for conformity with those documents. This is

Quality

all tied together with the price the contractor has agreed

to as part of the scope.

Often, the architect determines the quality of the

The disadvantage to this approach is that the owner

space. This is not just in its appearance, but also in the so-

does not find out the market value of his or her project

phistication of the infrastructure behind the appearance.

until the architect has completed approximately 75­80%

For instance, the architect will determine which walls get

of his or her work. This means that those architectural

soundproofed and whether the sheetrock on the wall is

fees are at risk should the project be abandoned for any

/ or 5/8 thick.

1

2

reason, including the price coming in beyond what the

Cost

owner can tolerate.

In this process, it is very common for the architect

Typically, the contractor and his or her subcontrac-

and the contractor to sit down together to define ways to

tors and material groups will define the cost of the project

save time and money on the project after the initial price

based on the owner's quantity and the architect's quality.

is received from the contractor. This is done whether the

With an understanding of these variables and issues,

project came in on budget or not.

let us look at the different delivery processes that are used

There are two different ways that the project cost is

to develop medical office space.

generally developed: through competitive bidding and

through negotiation.

CONSTRUCTION OPTION 1:

DESIGN-BID-BUILD

Competitive Bidding

In this scenario, multiple general contractors com-

This is the most common way that projects are de-

petitively bid on the project design documents. On pub-

livered in the United States. Based on the owner's re-

lic projects, this is often an open bidding in which any

quirements, the architect designs the space. When the

licensed contractor who wishes to submit a price is al-

construction documents are completed, a price is secured

lowed to do so. On private projects, it most commonly is

from a contractor (either through bidding or negotia-

a pre-qualified bidding in which you select three or more

tion). Then the project is built. The diagram shown in

contractors, any one of which you would be happy to have

Figure 3 illustrates the implications of this project deliv-

build a building. Each of those contractors is requested

ery method with the quality, quantity, and cost issues raised

to provide a competitive bid. In a private bidding, if your

above.