The architect and time-cost factors in the construction industry

Although architects may never again completely regain their past image as Master Builders, they must recognize a new and broader scope of practice or lose their viability in the construction market place. By taking a new and broader view of project scope, the architect will begin to see the total meaning of creative cost control management. He will begin to appreciate the total financial support required for project completion, rather than emphasize a relatively meaningless preoccupation with per square foot costs of construction. With that total picture, he can then respond creatively and definitively using his newly found knowledge as a key to project control. In an attempt to define and analyse the total project cost problem, with special emphasis on architectural practice implication, the following items are discussed: 1. The trend in construction costs and the need for management control. 2. A description of architectural services and types of architectural firms in existence today. 3. A survey of innovative architectural office practice management techniques as they affect fees and total costs, and a discussion of total personnel involvement in future creative management practice. 4- The implications of total scheduling, including a case example showing the effect of increased costs on investment quality. 5. Investigation of new client/contractor/owner relationships in total project planning and management. 6. Investigation of contract bidding and award factors The Architect and Time-Cost Factors in the Construction Industry with time-cost implications, including bidding climate, seasonality, bid-rigging, and phased scheduling. 7. A survey of other major time-cost factors over which the architect has little or no control. 8. A case study of the effects of time condensation on total project financing. In this thesis it is also shown that nondesign factors may have far greater influence on total project costs than materials and methods selections. These same factors have an amplified impact on a project's investment quality