MAJOR INVESTMENT: ANNEX 1
THE CLIENT'S CHAIN OF COMMAND
Organisational Structure
1. The chain of command must be structured in a way which makes clear and explicit links between the responsibilities for investment decision making and the project ownership, project sponsorship and project management roles
2. The organisational structure must provide for the discharge of 3 key management functions, which are:
- informed investment decision-making;
- management of the project placed with an accountable manager in the client's chain of command; and
- day to day management of the client's interests in the project placed with a single person, responsible to an accountable manager and with the authority and skills to manage the user side and oversee the delivery of the project by the industry.
3. In addition to these Client roles, the project governance structure may also include a project board, which supports the project owner in an advisory capacity, and possibly also a programme board with responsibility for overall direction and management of a number of related projects.
4. Where the Project Sponsor is not a technical expert and such expertise is not available in-house, the Sponsor should appoint a Client Adviser at the earliest opportunity following project inception. The Adviser should have substantial technical expertise in the construction field. He or she will act as a personal consultant providing advice on all construction matters, particularly those that must be carried out before the appointment of a Project Manager. A consultant Client Adviser should not carry out any other role in relation to management or delivery of the project.
5. Client Advisers will contribute to the management of the project in its early stages. Lines of communication between persons discharging these functions must be kept short.
6. Client roles may be combined, if this best suits local needs, providing that all the functions can be discharged under this arrangement. If roles are combined, then:
- the allocation of the 3 functions of Investment Decision Maker, Project Owner and Project Sponsor should always be clear;
- no one person should combine all three; and
- where two functions are combined, then the authority and status of the higher function should operate.
7. Professional advisers and contractors are responsible for implementing the project report upwards from contractors, service providers and suppliers through design team professionals through the Project Manager to the Project Sponsor. Decisions about which contractors, consultants or suppliers should be appointed to provide services must be taken by a permanent employee in the chain of command - not by "agency" or contract staff.
The Development Process
8. Those unfamiliar with the development process may find a summary helpful as a short guide to the steps that lie ahead. The process described below focuses on the steps involved in a construction project, although the broad sequence of events may vary.
9. The formulation of any proposal starts with an assessment of need, describing the particular problem to be addressed and setting out broad objectives. Project sponsorship responsibilities should be clarified at this stage when the need has been accepted. An economic appraisal of a number of possible actions will follow that will determine which option meets a given set of objectives in the most effective, efficient and economic manner.
10. Engaging a professional Client Adviser to translate needs into a realisable project follows. This may be an in-house or consultant appointment. He or she will advise on the appointment of a Project Manager and a design team. He or she may be brought in sooner to help the client with the development of the economic appraisal. If the project is a building then, subject to the assessment of the most appropriate procurement route, the team will usually include an architect, a surveyor and other appropriate consultants, such as a structural engineer and heating and ventilating engineers.
11. Project monitoring is a continuous process of review incorporated within these procedures to ensure that the project objectives are being met throughout the design and construction process. When the work is complete a post-project evaluation (PPE) will check if all the objectives have been met and whether the project has been delivered on time within the set budget and to the required quality and if any lessons to be learned.
Page Published/ Updated: February 2007