After the punchlists have been completed
and the final actions taken, the project manager remains an important
part of insuring client satisfaction. Regular follow-up with a telephone
call or meeting will let the client know you are concerned about
service and his or her satisfaction. Some firms request client completion
of a report card form (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 - Report Card
Time and expense spent giving attention
to problems should be immediate and may not be billable, but may
need to be charged to marketing. The client should be kept informed
of your firm's activities and should receive all relevant mailers.
Remember, he or she is still your client and deserves your continued
contact and attention.
Some firms enter into a formal commissioning
process. Others simply do follow-up to insure client satisfaction,
learn from experience, and to obtain additional work.
PROJECT DATA RETENTION
Once a design project has been completed,
a decision must be made as to the fate of the vast amount of data
and material collected during the project's life. No firm can or
should save everything. Many of the materials that accumulate are
redundant, are working or draft versions or are progress reports.
The "pack rat" firm that saves everything will soon be
overwhelmed. A firm that discards nearly everything will soon find
itself regretting the decision. Equally at risk is a firm that retains
the wrong materials or one that fails to organize them in a useful
form. Increasingly, firms are saving much of the needed data electronically.
Not only does this save space, but many clients are now requiring
their own copy of this electronically stored information.
Some materials must be retained. As-built
drawings should be kept for as long as the building stands. Your
firm may be the only source of these important documents. Future
engineers, architects and building owners will be saved much time
and expense if they have these drawings available. The project specifications
are also vital to enable others to review the material and equipment
used.
For historically significant buildings,
additional information such as preliminary design drafts may be
retained. This will allow future historians and preservationists
to consult documents that indicate the designer's thought processes.
However, the determination of historically significant is for the
future to decide, not the ego of the designer. One clue though,
is the original purpose of the building. Single purpose buildings,
especially for a branch of government or for a single corporate
user often have the greatest initial impact and the longest lifespan.
LEGAL CONCERNS
Usually, the single overriding factor
in determining the retention of data is concern over the possibility
of future lawsuits. Most states have statutes of limitations for
the filing of legal actions in construction projects. In general,
these statutes will dictate how long you should retain certain information.
In most cases, ten years will be adequate. Check the statutes in
the states where you work.
Typically, materials retained because
of legal concerns include a final set of drawings at the completion
of each project phase. The owner-designer contract and amendments
(change orders, etc.) must be retained permanently. Correspondence
that could be used to pinpoint responsibility or a standard of care
must be saved. Many attorneys would advise keeping all correspondence
until the statute of limitations expires. In addition, job notes,
diaries and field inspection reports must be retained.
MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING USE
Aside from the legal and historic uses,
the most important reason for reviewing and organizing project material
lies in its subsequent management and marketing applications. Many
engineers and architects are contacted by owners years after the
original project completion. This can be the source of much additional
billable work and requires ready access to past project data. Obviously,
it is essential to save and organize critical information to allow
for timely response to client needs.
PROJECT MANAGERS AND MARKETERS
In many design firms the project managers
have the most complete and accurate files. Often, essential data
never makes its way to the main files of the firm. Project managers
may leave the company, taking irreplaceable records with them. Even
when they remain with the same firm, the information they have is
rarely available to other project managers or to the marketing staff.
If the main files have gaps, then much time is wasted seeking material,
records, reports, etc. that should be readily available.
Your marketing staff has a continual
need for historic data on projects. Not only must the appropriate
information be retained, but it must be organized to allow for quick
retrieval. Without this organization, a great deal of potentially
productive time can be wasted searching for information on completed
projects.
For example, many proposals require
submission of information on past similar projects. This often includes
fees, consultants used, owner's names and addresses, contractors
and subcontractors involved, staff and project manager's names,
etc. Some of this may be easily recalled on significant recent projects.
Often this is not the case.
In an effort to organize and insure
comprehensive records, some firms have established completed project
files. These provide a checklist of required information and centralize
all essential historical material. They are not a replacement for
the firm's main files. The completed project file serves as a supplement,
containing key data of value to other project managers and marketers.
