Managing Project Risk: Best Practices for Architects and Related Professionals / Edition 1

by James B. Atkins, Grant A. Simpson

Overview

Discover the benefits of effective risk management practices

Risk management may not be a standard course in architecture school, but it is an essential concern for architects and related professionals working today. Managing Project Risk is a key resource for integrating good risk management into professional practice.

Based on a popular series of articles in AIArchitect, this accessible volume offers an on-the-ground perspective of what can happen on the job and what architects can do to prevent or mitigate threatening conditions and events. With an engaging, non-legalistic style, authors Atkins and Simpson draw upon their considerable experience and upon AIA Contract Documents to show how sound risk management strategies work in a variety of real-world settings, covering such practical areas as:
* Risk management fundamentals
* Contracts
* Relationships with clients
* Understanding the architect's role in the project
* Risk issues with digital drawings
* The modern architectural workplace

Rendering potentially dry topics lively with wit and anecdote, Managing Project Risk resonates with the experience of contemporary architects, while offering helpful suggestions applicable not only to risk management but also to project management and professional development.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470273814
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	04/04/2008
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	701,749
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

JAMES B. ATKINS, FAIA, FKIA, has spent the past thirty years as risk manager and senior construction principal with HKS Architects, the world's third largest architecture firm, where he pioneered many procedural advances in architecture services, many of which have been adopted by the AIA. Jim has served on the AIA Documents Committee and was the 2006 chair of the AIA Risk Management Committee. He chaired the AIA Task Group for the Fourteenth Edition of The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice and was a contributor to that volume.

GRANT A. SIMPSON, FAIA, serves several architectural firms, including HKS and RTKL, as a practice and project management consultant. He has provided expert witness services on some of the largest and most complex projects, and has been an active project manager for major projects throughout the United States and internationally for more than thirty years. A member of the AIA Risk Management Committee in 2008, Grant was the 2006 chair of the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community Advisory Group, and was a contributor to the Fourteenth Edition of The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice.

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Table of Contents

Foreword by Douglas Gordon, Hon. AIA, and Stephanie Stubbs, Assoc. AIA, Editors of AIArchitect vi

Preface viii

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction x

Chapter 1 Fundamentals 1

The Importance of Risk Management: Its Key Role in Professional Service Delivery 1

Risk Management Basics: Essentials for Maintaining an Effective Risk Program 6

To Document or Not to Document: Basic Documentation Requirements 12

Another Fine Mess—The Onerous Contract, Part 1: Risk Management after the Agreement Is Signed 18

Another Fine Mess—The Onerous Contract, Part 2 22

Free Fall: Working without a Contract 29

Chapter 2 Clients 39

Love Me Tender: Maintaining the Client Relationship 39

Smoke, Mirrors, and Snake Oil: Risks in Marketing 44

Double-Edged Sword: The Owner’s Separate Consultants 49

The Power of One: The Effective Owner-Architect-Contractor Team 55

Chapter 3 Power and Profi ciency 63

Project Manager or Risk Manager? The Architect’s Dual Role 63

Master and Commander, Part 1: The Architect’s Authority 69

Master and Commander, Part 2 75

Top Gun: Targeting and Resolving Problematic Issues 80

Zen and the Art of Construction Administration, Part 1:

How Discipline and Self-Control Can Improve Your Services 88

Zen and the Art of Construction Administration, Part 2 93

Chapter 4 Essentials 99

A Loss Cause: Drawing Discrepancies and Ensuing Damages 99

A Loss Cause Too: Betterment 105

Absolute or Absolution? Observations, Inspections, and the Contractor’s Warranty 113

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Challenges and Risks of Nonconforming Work 122

Drawing the Line: Why the Architect’s Documents Cannot Be Used for Construction 130

Chapter 5 Applications 139

A Fistful of Dollars: Surviving Project Buyout 139

Ch-Ch-Changes . . . : Managing Risk in the Change Process 147

According to Hoyle: The Submittal Process 156

Visible Means: Site Visits and Construction Observation 166

A Certifi able Risk: Cautions and Strategies in the Payment Certification Process 174

Substantial Completion, Where Art Thou? A Challenging and Elusive Milestone 178

Chapter 6 The Architects’ Lament 189

Your Grandfather’s Working Drawings: A Nostalgic Look at the Past, Observations of the Present 189

The Speed of Life: Preserving Your Personal Life in a Hectic World 197

Raiders of the Lost Art: The Vanished Treasures of Architecture 203

Chapter 7 Introspection 211

Who Are You? Defi ning the Architect 211

Who’s on First? Covering Your Bases in a Resource-Challenged Industry 217

Little Boxes: The Challenges of Producing Original Design 224

Gimme Shelter: The Building Exterior Wall 231

Lemons to Lemonade: Benefi ting from Mistakes 242

Index 250