MANAGING THE BUILDING PROCESS

The construction of buildings traditionally involves a considerable number of diffe-rent parti-es. The process is unique in the sense that it takes place in an environment where constellations between people, companies and public authorities constant-ly change. Correspondingly the physical conditions are always changing since construction never takes place at the same location. Consequently manage-ment of the building process must var-y de-pending on the specific type of the pro-ject as well as the conditions (duration, budget etc.) under which the project takes place. Thus management arrangements differ considerably from project to project-, but important changes can also be observed from a historical perspective as a result of the major alterations in the construction industry over the last five decades. When producing buildings under market economy conditions it is vital to understand the participants' different and to some extent contrasting objectives. The main formal objective for all involved parti-es will be to supply the client with a pro-duct as spe-cified in the mutual agreement (the con-tract). Ho-wever this transaction will be executed- at the minimum expense in order to maxi-mise the generation of profit. At the same time the client's subjective interest is to maximi-se the quality of the project within the ag-reed economic fra-me (Bang 1992). Traditionally in the Danish building process design -and the construction are two rather separated phases. This fundamental characteristic, however, has gradually been revised and a broader variety of modern organisational arrangements and tender methods are now influencing the distribution of work functions, for instance design done by the design team in relation to design integrated in the contractors work or in the material deliveries. In the traditional understan-ding the architect is considered as be-ing the "client's man", impartial in respect to con-trac-tors and suppli-ers invol-ved in the construction process. Within this concept the architect is addressing the overall function and the human, the technical and the financial matters of the building in a combined balance. In this process the details -in the tech-nical, aesthetic and legal fields are important but the overall perspective prevails. The contrac-tor carries out the ac-tual work in connection with the materialisa-tion of the pro-ject. A recent issue of functional restructuring has been the quality aspects of the end-product. The reinforced focusing on product properties has in fact influenced the process development at all levels. Thus the effort to improve product performance has had a primary impact on the formal level of the process often within the context of ISO 9000 inspired quality management approaches. This formalisation has resulted in changes to the informal relations between the parties normally forming the vital part of the building "universe" in Denmark. In the same manner "green thinking" will influence the construction process in the years to come. Sustainability concepts will change the process itself by minimising the consumption of energy and other resources, but it will also have a great impact on the product characteristics through the introduction of new materials, new insulation standards, recirculating wastewater units, improved electrical devices etc. This in fact implies a radically revised approach enforced on design teams and contractors, since a great number of existing building materials and methods will be regarded as obsolete in the future. Taken to the full impact ecology will probably be a factor as important to the Danish construction industry as industrialisation was throughout thirty years post-war period. (Egebjerg & Falk 1996) For larger public building projects (total value of the project more than 5 million ECU or the value of the design-fee is more than 200,000 ECU) new European Union tender procedures will influence the traditional boundaries between architect and engineer in the design team. The political intentions behind these new tender procedures are to increase international competition on larger and more specialised building projects. The legislation on open tenders on design of buildings has entailed an integration of the tasks normally separated between architects and engineers. When previously the client selected his designer on the basis of subjective criteria, he now has to engage with, in principle, an unknown design team. This again has caused changes in the management set up procedures, because of the client's new need for risk reduction in relation to potential design team conflicts and in order to clarify questions of responsibility. Information technology is also having radically increasing importance as a major influential factor on the future building process management. In the design work the use of computers is widespread. However, the ultimate integration of computerised communication between the crucial parties in the building process (client, designer, supplier, contractor) still remains to be demonstrated successfully. To improve the utilisation of IT as well as the implementation of the other characteristic developments mentioned above several state subsidised experimental programmes have been introduced to the construction industry, all having an increased contractual and co-operative integration of the parties on the agenda.