Boring, in the useful sense.
Nothing here is clever. It is a list of the things that go wrong on small developments and what we do to stop them.
Five, in order of how much they save
Investigate before designing
Ground, drainage, structure and services first. A design produced before the constraints are known is a design that will be produced twice.
Say no early
Some sites do not work. Establishing that in the first month is the largest saving available on any scheme, and it is only available at the start.
One co-ordinated design
Consultants working to each other's information rather than in parallel. Clashes found on site were nearly all visible on paper.
Written change control
Instructions issued in writing and valued when issued. Verbal variations become the final account dispute.
Finish the last five per cent
Commissioning, certification and defects. The part everyone is tired of, and the part an occupier actually experiences.
Bad news travels immediately
Raise something the week it appears and you still have choices about it. Leave it a quarter and the choices have gone; what arrives instead is a variation, a delay and an argument about who knew what.
This sounds obvious and is routinely not done, because early bad news is uncomfortable and there is always a reason to wait for more information. We would rather have the uncomfortable conversation while it is still cheap.
The same person throughout
From first appraisal to the end of the defects period. On a scheme of this size there is no reason to hand over between stages, and every handover loses the reasoning behind decisions — leaving the decisions themselves standing with nothing underneath them.