Planning permit is approval granted by local government authority to commence development (based on compliance design documents with local planning policies or town planning scheme and/or bylaws).

Building permits is approval granted by local government authority to commence construction (based on compliance of documentation with BCA).

• The Minister for planning
• The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC)
• State and Administrative Tribunal (SAT) – Independent, reports to Minister
• Local Government

Refer to www.wapc.wa.gov.au/Plans+and+policies/Publications/1468.aspx

The Building Code of Australia is produced and maintained by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) on behalf of the Australian Government and each State and Territory Government.

The BCA is a uniform set of technical codes/provisions for the design and construction of buildings and other structures throughout Australia whist allowing for variations in climate and geological or geographical conditions. It is published in two volumes, Volume 1 covers Class2-9 for other buildings, Volume 2 covers Class 1 and 10 for Residential.

The BCA outlines DTS (Deemed to Satisfy) provisions and performances based provisions.

Local variations are allowed though these are minimal.

Refer to the Client and Architects Agreement for further clarification.

Pre-Design:

• Obtain the clients design brief and other requirements
• Arrange, attend and record meetings with the client
• Provide recommendations for the appointment of other specialist consultants as required, including fees
• Attend the site and assess site conditions and constraints
• Make initial inquiries regarding authority regulations and requirements
• Review the project budget
• Other pre-design services outlined in the schedules of the agreement

Design:

• Arrange, attend and record meetings with the client, authorities, other consultants and other relevant parties
• Undertake preliminary assessment of authority regulations and requirements
• Prepare sketches, diagrams and other information to adequately explain the concept
• Prepare design briefs for other consultants
• Coordinate preparation of a preliminary estimate of the Cost of Works
• Undertake preliminary selection of materials and finishes
• Other design services outlines in the schedule of the agreement

Approvals:

• Obtain the client’s approval of the design concept
• Obtain the client’s approval to proceed with Design Development

Obtain the client’s approval to prepare the Town Planning/development application, where required.

Refer to the Client and Architects Agreement for further clarification.

Developed Design:

• Develop the approval Design Concept and present documents and other information to adequately explain the developed design
• Arrange, attend and record meetings with the client
• Arrange, attend and record meetings with authorities, other consultants and other relevant parties
• Coordinate the work of other specialist consultants
• Provide schedule of proposed materials and finishes
• Review the developed design against the budget and coordinate the preparation of an updated estimate of the Cost of Works
• Other Design Development services as shown in the schedule of the agreement

Approvals:

• Obtain the client’s approval of the developed design
• Obtain the client’s approval to submit Town Planning/Development Application, where required
• Obtain the client’s approval to proceed with Construction Documentation

Town Planning/Development Application

• Confirm statutory authority requirements
• Attend pre-application meetings with relevant authorities prior to submissions of formal application
• Prepare application, including plans, diagrams, analyses, studies, reports and other information for submission.
• Assist the client in coordinating the required specialist consultants
• Assist the client with lodging formal application

Other Town Planning/Development Application services as shown in the schedule of the agreement.

Documents:

• Arrange, attend and record meetings with the client
• Coordinate and integrate the work of other specialist consultants
• Prepare drawings including plans, elevations and sections, together with other details and schedules to enable statutory approval to construct the project
• Prepare specifications in accordance with the drawings and the client’s requirements describing the quality of materials, finishes and quality of work necessary to obtain statutory approval.
• Submit required documents for statutory approval
• Prepare further drawings, specification and schedules to enable the construction of the project.
• Coordinate the preparation of a pre-tender estimate of the Cost of Works
• Provide recommendations to the client on the preferred method of building contractor selection
• Other Construction Documentation Services as shown in the Schedule of the Agreement.

Contractor Selection – Tender

• Assist client in determining the preferred tender process
• Prepare tender documents and issue to all tenderers
• Respond to inquiries from tenderers
• Received and open the tenders
• Together with the cost consultant, if any, assess the tenders
• Negotiate with the preferred tenderer if required to obtain an offer acceptable to the client
• Prepare reports on tender and recommendation for client acceptance
• Other services shown in the schedule of the agreement

Contractor Selection – Negotiated Offer

• Assist client in determining the preferred negotiation process
• Issue relevant documents to the prospective contractor to describe the scope of works
• Arrange and coordinate negotiations and enquiries with the prospective contractor
• Together with the cost consultant, if any, assess all submissions from the prospective contractor required to establish the contract price and final project scope.
• Prepare report and provide recommendations for clients acceptance

Other services shown in the schedule of the Agreement.

It is not the designer’s role to supervise building works. Supervision is the role of the builder. The architects role during the contract administration phase is inspect, assess and value the construction works. Refer to the standard ABIC contracts and Client/Architect Agreement for the architects role and Cautionary Advisory notes from the AIA.

Project cost control is the process of managing the developing design in order to comply with the project budget.

The process commences with the establishment of a cost plan, which demonstrates how the project budget is to be achieved.

Successive stages of the design and documentation are then subjected to a review in the form of cost estimates and the necessary corrective action is taken by the project team based on this ongoing cost advice. The aim is to ensure that the final construction cost of the works remains within the cost plan allowance.

Cost control extends throughout the construction stage up to the issue of the final certificate.

Total project cost is impacted by a number of issues in addition to construction cost alone, such as:

• land costs
• legal fees
• interest rate charges and financing costs
• development application and building approval fees and charges
• council contributions, fees and levies
• escalation
• consultant fees, project-management fees and charges
• tenancy fit-out costs
• infrastructure chargesThe project budget may be determined by the amount that a client can borrow, or by the upper limit deemed to be justifiable in the project feasibility study. The focus should be on delivering to the client optimum value in the completed project for the available funds. Cost planning and cost control should not be regarded as a negative constraint upon architectural intent, but rather a positive, proactive and disciplined process of directing project monies to the various project elements in a way that best meets the needs and aspirations of the client. Successful cost control is a critical prerequisite to the architect winning return business from the client.
• The principles and procedures set out here are applicable to all project sizes, large or small.
• For the benefit of all parties, the client should be encouraged to engage the services of a qualified cost planner or quantity surveyor to provide an independent cost plan and cost-control process for all project types.
• It is incumbent upon the architect, working in tandem with the cost planner and client, to assist in managing the cost-plan process, inclusive, if requested by the client, of the above components. It is imperative early in the project to define and agree the meaning of total project cost.

In the case of large or complex projects, the accuracy of the pre-tender cost estimate and the consistency of the tendering process can be improved by the production of a bill of quantities. This may take the form of either a fully detailed bill of quantities or a simplified bulk bill of quantities. In the latter case, the breakdown of individual building-trade elements is simplified into aggregated items, rather than producing detailed measurements.

The final preparation of a bill of quantities by a quantity surveyor typically commences at the 90% to 95% stage of contract documentation.

During the construction phase, cost control and thorough cost reporting to the client on a regular basis is essential.

A cost plan or cost estimate is best expressed using an elemental analysis. This method breaks the design up into the various elements of the building and site works.

This type of cost plan allows the design team more flexibility to modify building elements and calculate the effects on the overall cost rather than using a trade breakdown, which is difficult to manipulate during cost reviews due to the interdependence of trades.

Initial estimates can be produced using cost-per-square-metre rates. Square-metre rates, however, can be inaccurate as they often do not take into account the many factors that are likely to influence or add to construction cost. Some of these influencing factors are:

• location
• site access
• unique design details or materials
• buildability
• extent of building services
• availability of materials
• availability of labour
• market conditions
• inflation
• latent site conditions
• scope of external works, site infrastructure and authority chargesTable 1
• Elemental analysis
• Therefore, while square-metre rates can be used as a guide to project cost, it is important to qualify your advice when adopting this approach.

1. demolition/decontamination
2. site works
3. substructure
4. columns
5. upper floors
6. stairs
7. roof
8. external walls
9. windows
10. external doors
11. internal walls
12. internal screens
13. internal doors
14. wall finishes
15. floor finishes
16. ceiling finishes
17. fitments
18. special equipment
19. hydraulics
20. air-conditioning
21. electrical services
22. fire services
23. lift services
24. builders work in conjunction
25. external works and services
26. alteration work
27. preliminaries and margin

List of exclusions:

• land costs, legal fees, interest charges and financing costs
• development application and construction-certificate fees and charges
• council contributions, fees, levies and charges
• consultant fees, and project-management fees and charges
• escalation after stated dates
• tenancy fit-out costs including fittings, furniture and equipment
• provision for GST
• developer's contingency sum
• infrastructure charges As soon as the client has established the project budget, a target cost plan is prepared to match the budget. Monies are allocated in that target cost plan to each of the elements.Naturally there will be pluses and minuses, which is why a contingency should be established and used as a balancing factor.Note the importance of listing all known exclusions to the construction cost estimate, to highlight the role of such exclusions in formulating the total project cost.
• The indicative cost estimate summary sheet is accompanied by the calculation sheet (Table 3) showing how each elemental cost is obtained.
• As the design progresses, detailed cost estimates can be prepared for each of the elements in turn and compared against the target figure. This is an iterative process. When overruns are identified for a particular element that will jeopardise the overall cost, the design should be modified in response.
• The cost planner will review each of these elements in detail with the architect and the other design team consultants.

Accuracy of estimates

The accuracy of an estimate can be affected by factors including scale, method of estimating and building type. Estimates will rarely be absolutely correct. The limits of the acceptable tolerance depend on client circumstances and should be determined early in the briefing.

Small projects

In small or complex projects, particularly residential work, the difference between the highest and lowest tender is often substantial. Contributing factors include the proportion of cost attributable to project preliminaries, management, risk and anticipated difficulties in the management of construction. Prediction of the limits of accuracy is virtually impossible and the client must be advised of this accordingly.

Other factors

There are other factors, apart from the size of the project, which can make giving an opinion within the normal ranges extremely difficult. These factors include availability of labour and materials, inflation, the industrial climate and unusual and complex works.

Higher degree of accuracy

Where the architect considers that a higher degree of accuracy is required than he or she can reasonably provide, authorisation to employ a quantity surveyor to prepare cost estimates should be sought. In projects involving the preparation of a bill of quantities, consideration can be given to extension of the quantity surveyor's appointment to assist with project cost-control services.

Building-services estimates

Particular care is necessary in the case of buildings with complex mechanical and electrical services to ensure, in consultation with the specialist consultants concerned, that provision is included for these services in the overall building estimate.

This is a specialised area and care should be taken to determine the extent of and allow for any contract work associated with the work of the services subcontractors.