ABSTRACT
All construction projects must begin with the client. This is the party who has instigated the project, will have thought about why the facility should be built, will have organised the funding and be convinced that it is a worthwhile investment. They are therefore the sponsor of the whole construction process, who provides the most important perspective on project performance and whose needs must be met by the project team. However, the term ‘client’ implies that it is one person or one organisation to whom all other parties can refer, which is not necessarily the case, especially with large, complex organisations where users, decision-makers, financers may all work in quite separate departments, each with its own procedures, priorities and attitudes. Additionally, clients (or customers/consumers) of any industry are not a homogeneous group, and it follows that different clients, or categories of clients, will require different solutions for their requirements and will present different opportunities and challenges for the suppliers of the services. Therefore we must ensure that, before addressing the technical, managerial and
design aspects of the project, the identity, nature and characteristics of the client are comprehensively and accurately identified and that the project team is fully aware of, and understands, the client’s particular needs. This is carried out in the briefing stage (see RIBA Plan of Work in Chapter 6) and is essential in order to avoid misunderstandings later in the project which may result in lengthy and costly disputes between the client and the design and/or construction team. A reasonable simple definition of the client is therefore:
We must remember that the client commissions the building or facility, but is generally not familiar with the workings of the construction industry. This is not unusual, since we all buy cars or other consumer goods without knowing how the industry that produces them is organised. However, as mentioned in Chapter 1, the construction industry is different in that there has traditionally been a separation between the design of the product and its manufacture, which is not the case in the motor car industry; for example, the Ford Motor Company both designs and produces its cars.
