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A guide to improving value by reducing error.

As part of our involvement as members of the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI), we have been collaborating with fellow members, across all disciplines, to create the GIRI Design Guide.

The impetus for the development of the GIRI Design Guide was the fact that the GIRI’s initial research identified the design process as being a key source of construction errors, which cost the UK industry billions every year.

The GIRI “Guide to Improving Value by Reducing Error” consists of twelve principal recommendations that can be applied to any project, particularly at its commencement and during the early design stages. The guide aims to share knowledge across the construction industry and serves as a useful reminder of the best practice techniques to follow when approaching projects. On that basis, it should be as valuable to clients as it is to the designers themselves.

The twelve principles the guide looks at for improvement include:

• Culture
• Increased investment
• Robust approach
• Collaboration
• Plan
• Brief
• Information
• Stakeholder management
• Opening up & closing down
• Contractor input
• Handover
• Guiding the design team

From our perspective as MEP engineers in multi-disciplinary design teams, projects that adhere to a consistent plan, which can flex as situations change, see improvements in quality, cost and time, when compared to those projects that do not put as much emphasis on the design process. Therefore, clients who apply the GIRI Design Guide recommendations as a matter of routine should see a significant increase in the value derived from the design process.

To download the full PDF you can visit the GIRI website here.