Managing Design

CHAPTER 17Level 0: Subsurface (Contractual/Forming)

There is no more important act in managing design than contracting for it and assembling the right team. That means qualifying, selecting, scoping, and assembling design team members into a team with parties, duties, terms, compensation, performance period, and termination conditions. Agreeing on the right partners and service scope sets the stage and establishes the rules of design engagement. While these bodies of knowledge are the subjects of other books, we will lay a foundation for them here – groundwork to support the rest of the framework above.

In this context, setting and using Project Design Controls begins with convening the team and writing contracts to give the collective the best conditions under which to work. Some teams may be provided a team and contract – conditions dictated by others and assigned to the team. Fear not, the rest of the PDC model still applies.

To begin the Project Design Controls–as–building analogy, we stand on a subsurface level (Level 0), the geotechnical soils, or bedrock into which the foundations (Level 1) of project planning are built. Refer to the Figure 17.1 to view this “forming” Project Control Level 0 (Contractual.) (Note: If your project delivery approach and contacts are established and your team is already formed, move to “Level 1: Foundation [Planning/Organizing]” to organize and start your project.)

FIGURE 17.1 Level 0: “Subsurface” (Contractual/Forming).

Project ...