By Uwe Putlitz
Uwe Putlitz walks us through the communication and documentation involved in project management.
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Uwe Putlitz is a registered professional Architect and Construction Project Manager, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and is a visiting lecturer at the School of Construction Economics and Management at the University of the Witwatersrand. Having recently retired as the Chief Executive Officer of the Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC) he specialises in the avoidance of construction disputes by way of lectures, technical articles dealing with aspects of contract administration for various industry publications arising from the use of Standard-form Contracts including the Federation Internationale des Ingenieurs-Conseils (FIDIC), the General Conditions of Contract (GCC), the JBCC or the New Engineering Contract (NEC) to find an acceptable settlement without resorting to legal processes, where possible.
More info: info@buildstrat.co.za |
Project management, and for that matter many other activities, rely on effective communication to achieve the purpose or action required by and from the participants.
Over the last decade the emphasis when drafting construction contracts has been to use short words in short sentences grouped in short paragraphs to express information concisely with the companion goal to avoid disputes, for example:
- Regular and open consultation between the Parties and the Contract Administrator is
- Confirm that the participants are comfortable and competent in the use of English or another agreed language.
- The initiator of a communication must consider the recipient’s competence to achieve the intended purpose.
The objective of the communication must be clear to all involved, taking into consideration any medical impairments or, if applicable, cultural traditions or levels of training or of competence.
Where two or more participants are talking to one another, is this conversation to be recorded, and if so, what medium is appropriate – an audio/video recording on a smart phone, and/or in writing?
You should consider that in the event of a subsequent dispute the accuracy and completeness of oral evidence may be queried. Therefore, it is preferable that such information is recorded in writing and noted as correct by both parties.
The recording of minutes at a meeting should follow an agenda, allowing for relevant items to be added at the discretion of the chairperson. At the start of a subsequent meeting the attendees must confirm the accuracy of such minutes, and/or record corrections before the chair signs a record copy of the minutes – which may be evidence should a dispute arise in future.
For efficient project communication a plan – appropriate to the nature and location of a project and its executants – should be developed considering some or all applicable criteria, for example:
- Does the communication involve the use of industry specific technical terminology? If so, can such text be readily understood by all project participants?
- How should such information be communicated? If in writing, should documentation follow corporate or an industry standard format?
- Should illustrations or other visual information be included?
Documentation must be logically organised and paginated and, if applicable, cross referenced using embed hyperlinks to open such document without having to search for it elsewhere in the document. Photographs should explain their purpose and should be supplemented with explanatory text.
Some industries or businesses may have a ‘house style’ for the compilation of documents using accepted phraseology and/or vocabulary presented in an agreed format and/or by completing relevant templates. For example, templates may be created as a standard format of letters or e-mail communications, reports, instructions, test reports, meeting minutes, etc.
The specification of branded software products – and graphic standards for the preparation of CAD/BIM- for the preparation of technical reports, drawings or illustrations may be appropriate for the end user provi9ded they are compatible with its continuing managerial procedures.
Projects are typically uniquely identified with a number under which all communications are filed under appropriate subheadings – alphabetically or numerically – in date or sequential order.
The purpose of proforma documentation is to maintain uniformity within an organisation using a neutral checklist of key data items, regardless of personal preferences. To avoid or minimise disputes requires efficient and time-saving procedures to complete and maintain project records. The use of well-designed standard forms permits the quick and easy completion thereof with space to highlight exceptional events requiring non routine attention.
International and South African Standard-form Construction Contracts (SfC) seek to avoid disputes by creating a time-tested legal contract administrative tool. Where users have unilaterally altered the wording of a SfC to suit their purposes, expensive and time-consuming legal processes have often followed.
The practice of issuing a Letter of Intent instead of a Letter of Appointment where a request to the tenderer to extend the tender validity period, can potentially avoid abortive work by contractors committing resources to a project before the award.
The ECSA ‘Overarching Code of Practice for Performance of Engineering Work’ (R-01-CoP, 09 December 2020) refers inter alia to the safe and secure storage of project related documentation for a minimum of 10 years in soft and hard copy format after completion.
A registered practitioner or reviewer of design calculations, drawings, reports, instructions, certificates, method statements etc must acknowledge their qualification or authority as the author or reviewer – by stating their registration number and a ‘wet’ signature or using an authenticated electronic signature. A practitioner may not sign blank or incomplete documents.
The hierarchy of who is authorised to sign certain documents is determined in the Companies Act. For the execution of projects such authority and responsibility must be delegated in compliance with the Construction Regulations 2014, as revised.
The use of e-mail has become easy and widespread across all smart devices to issue an electronic communication 24/7. While the issuer is not necessarily expecting a speedy response from the recipient the announcement of a message outside recognised business hours (allowing for international time zones) is neither courteous nor realistic.
It may be appropriate to use page headers to clearly state the purpose of a message and the response required …
The Project:
Subject Matter:
Action required (who/when/where):
Date / time to be completed:
Any outstanding information? List attached documents.
Consider: “If it is not in writing, it does not exist,” and, “I did not have time to make it any shorter”.
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