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  • HPH196 : Why communication is central to self build success – with Lucy Pedler

    HPH196 : Why communication is central to self build success – with Lucy Pedler

    Lucy Pedler, architect and founder of The Green Register, talks about the importance of good communication throughout a self-build project.

    Interview with Lucy Pedler

    As a child, Lucy was interested in the worlds of science and arts and wanted a profession that could combine the two. She qualified 35 years ago, and has worked as an architect in the UK and US.

    Influenced by her father, an environmentalist, Lucy wanted her career to encompass both architectural and environmental work. In the early ‘90s, she worked as a Product Specialist at Construction Resources (the UK’s first Ecological Building Centre) for five years; this involved researching the environmental impact of building materials and systems, and training other construction professionals in green building.

    In 2000, Lucy launched The Green Register, a not-for-profit organisation providing independent training and promoting sustainable building practices across the construction industry.

    Poor communication is the cause of many problems

    Lucy believes we spend quite a lot of time as human beings not saying what we think! If you can communicate effectively – using a bit of tact and choosing words carefully – people know where they stand. Lucy says some people think she’s quite direct but at least there’s no grey area.

    Making the importance of communication clear from the start helps to create an environment where everybody’s comfortable talking about the build.

    A robust brief ensures everyone’s on the same page

    Good communication is key to making the project a success and this begins with a detailed brief. To produce one, the architect or designer must first thoroughly understand what the client wants.

    This document should then be referred to throughout the build process as things inevitably change. For example, there may be planning issues, unexpected problems on site, or design alterations. A detailed brief aids important discussions about the time, cost and design implications of changes.

    It’s worth spending time setting the green agenda

    When people tell Lucy they want a ‘low energy house’ she needs to clarify exactly what that means. Clients may just want low energy bills, or they may have concerns about the bigger picture: the way the house is built, materials used, internal environment, wellbeing, etc. It’s a lot of work that has to be done at the beginning, but Lucy says you’ll reap the benefits throughout the process.

    Be realistic about the budget from the outset

    A fabric first approach is much better in terms of environmental issues and impact. But Lucy understands that the majority of people don’t have the money to do 100% sustainable buildings, commenting, “Don’t beat yourself up if you haven’t got the perfect house because whatever you do is going to be better than the average house in the UK, which is very, very mediocre.”

    Lucy advises people to be honest about access to funds and what you have upfront. Then everybody involved knows what you can afford. You don’t want to run out of money and work to suddenly stop onsite.

    The project lead should manage expectations about cost

    During a career spanning more than 30 years, Lucy can’t remember a project where the cost didn’t change, usually in an upward direction. Managing clients’ expectations won’t make the problem go away, but lessens their disappointment.

    The architect (or lead) should explain the process and set expectations that the project will probably go over cost and time. If unexpected costs arise, they’ll refer back to the brief so the client can decide whether to increase the budget or save costs elsewhere. Lucy says self-builders often see the long-term benefits of increasing the budget.

    There’s huge value in face-to-face communication

    Modern communication technology sets expectations that everything can be done immediately. While some decisions are quick to make, Lucy thinks we’ve lost something in not being given the time to consider things.

    Projects can be discussed remotely using phone, Skype and email, but Lucy gives reasons why talking to clients in person can be advantageous:

    • You can sketch over plans while talking through concepts.
    • It’s easier to compare room sizes on plans with the room you’re all sitting in.
    • Some decisions take a bit of time and are best explained face-to-face.
    • You can observe non-verbal reactions, e.g. facial expressions.

    3D modelling makes it easier to convey concepts

    Many clients can’t understand 2D drawings and Lucy comments, “Why should they? It took us seven years of training to get where we are.” She recommends a programme called SketchUp, which is very simple and can quickly produce a 3D walkthrough to use with clients, helping them to experience light and height and changes in space, etc.

    It’s important that concepts aren’t presented as a fait accompli, and Lucy says clients should feel able to give feedback. Reviewing conceptual designs is a key stage for communication, when you’ll work out basics such as the position of the living room or the size of the kitchen.

    Design iterations take time and can be costly

    Lucy recalls a client who requested ten different designs for a 2m x 2m bathroom and chose the original one in the end! A helpful approach is for the architect or designer to state upfront the number of design options included in their price, and make it clear they’ll have to start charging extra for any additional major changes.

    A collaborative design and build approach is worth considering

    While in the States, Lucy worked with contractors from the conceptual stage onwards and the contractor would inform some of the technical decisions. This approach required a high level of trust, but meant shared ownership of the project. And when it came to pricing the job, the cost was quite realistic.

    Lucy says when you go out to competitive tender, contractors may not have understood the drawings or might not be pricing accurately. She cautions, “Although it might appear initially to be the lowest cost, at the end they’re clawing back what they need in order to make a profit.”

    A neutral third person can mediate between client and contractor

    Lucy says if clients can afford to appoint someone to oversee the project that’s a real plus. The architect or project manager can tell them early on what’s likely to happen during the construction stage and clarify what their fee will cover.

    Self-builders often get much more involved, but Lucy suggests clients don’t take on the project management role themselves as they’re too close to the project and usually don’t have the experience needed.

    Agree a schedule of meetings for the build

    When the construction stage begins, you’re introducing a lot more people, so communication can be challenging. And clients often perceive progress to be slow and see costs increase and timescales slip during this stage.

    It’s helpful to plan a schedule of meetings and clarify to the whole project team where they’ll be held, who does/doesn’t need to attend, what’s going to be covered, etc.

    Lucy says the one group of people they find very difficult to get into Green Register seminars are builders. She recommends ‘toolbox talks’ if you’re trying to achieve a low energy building, as spending just a few hours explaining the concepts is money well spent.

    3 more tips for a successful self-build

    1. The amount of information and decision-making can be overwhelming. Decide how involved you want to be, e.g. technical decisions may be best left to professionals trained to deal with them.
    2. It’s important no one in the team holds back. The client, architect or contractor needs to share their concerns or say if there’s something they have doubts about.
    3. The Green Register encourages post-occupancy monitoring (e.g. of airtightness, fuel costs, etc.). This can reassure you that you’ve got what you set out to achieve.

     

    Find out more

    Visit the website of The Green Register

    Follow The Green Register on Twitter

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Lucy Pedler

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  • HPH109 : How project management helps your build – with Cesar Abeid

    HPH109 : How project management helps your build – with Cesar Abeid

    We’re exploring project management, what it all means and whether becoming a project manager of your house build is actually a good idea.

    cesar-abeid

     

    Interview with Cesar Abeid

    Cesar Abeid is a project management professional, author and speaker. He hosts two podcasts – Project Management for the Masses and The Construction Industry Podcast, and has recently written a book called Project Management for You which talks through the step by step stages of bringing an idea to reality. Cesar claims to be a naturally disorganised person but found that the things he learnt from project management he was able to transfer into both his personal and professional life.

    Project-Management-For-You-book

    Based on the methodologies of the Project Management Insititute (PMI), Cesar offers a framework for you to take something complex, like building a house, and breaking it down into manageable parts, sequence the activities into schedules and make estimates for budgets and resources.

    “It just basically takes a complex project like the building of a home and turns that project into a sequence of smaller parts.”

    We’re going to be looking in depth at just a few of these principles and seeing how they can apply to tackling a self-build project.

     

    The ‘composing phase’

    Cesar would break this down into two parts – the design project and the actual build project.

    For the design project you’re going to need to engage with stakeholders (business partner, team, husband / wife etc) and consider what the building will look like, what features it should have, and what you want the project to do. In the composing phase you may not have all the information right at the beginning but you need to define the project as best you can and arrive at a set of requirements. By brainstorming with your stakeholders you might be alerted to things you didn’t realise that you needed to know! The experts can help by asking the right questions which will guide you through the process of defining what it is you actually want.

    By the end of the composing phase you can produce a single page ‘scope of work’ document. This document outlines what it is you want to do, the resources you have to work with, and perhaps even a rough idea of budget. At this stage you’re not thinking structurally or about how things are going to fit together.

     

    The ‘decomposing phase’

    This is when you can start thinking about how the project can be broken down into more manageable parts, and how those parts will fit together.

    Cesar recommends breaking each element (such as roof, walls, insulation, foundations etc) down into a sequence of actions. That way you’re being locked into a way of doing things, instead of the thing itself. He suggests continuing to break these elements down until you reach a point where that one thing you need to deliver can either be done by you or handed over to someone, and that person can deliver that part in a period of time of between a day and two weeks, or a day and a week. It’s at that point that you’ve broken it down enough. If you take it to the point of that thing is only going to take a couple of hours, then you have probably broken it down too far. Likewise if you’re at the point where that element would take a month, then you’ve not broken it down far enough.

    Example of the decomposing stage for the writing of Cesar's book
    Example of the decomposing stage for the writing of Cesar’s book

    The advantage of this method is you’re able to hand these work packages over to others who can then provide you with an estimate of their time and cost.

    “You plan the work then you work the plan”.

     

    Decision-making time

    Once you have completed the decomposing stage you will have a rough idea of what’s going to be involved in terms of time and costs. At this point you’re able to make a decision about whether the house is going to be too big, too costly, take too long etc, and even whether you still wish to proceed. This isn’t a case of giving up due to being overwhelmed by the project, but is an informed and conscious decision that could only have been reached by working through the planning stage.

     

    Defining Activities

    When you have your work packages, you can take each one and determine what activities need to happen for that thing to be delivered. This might be a case for example of sitting down with a roofer and compiling a list of tasks that will be necessary to complete the work package.

    By being broken down into work packages it strips away the complexity of how everything fits together and you can focus on those things that take about a day or a week to do. Working your way back up your chart (that has been divided and subdivided further into smaller parts) in this planning project, once these work packages are done then the levels above them will be done and the project will ultimately be complete.

     

    Managing risk

    You need to sit down with your team / stakeholders and come up with a list of risks which are potential issues that could arise in your project.

    You can start by brainstorming and writing a long list of what could go wrong, before then trying to narrow it down by considering which ones are probable, and of these probable ones, which are the ones that are of the greatest importance and impact. You can come up with a contingency plan for what needs to be done if that risk did occur, and assign that risk to someone in your team to watch out for and flag up if they see it coming.

    Risk Analysis Matrix

    Delegating and team building

    By going through the process of composing and decomposing it will become clear which tasks will need to be delegated, either because you do not have the expertise for them yourself or perhaps because your time could be better spent elsewhere.

    This isn’t about handing over control, because as the project manager you have done all the planning and are overseeing this process. The information you receive back from your delegated tasks will provide you with what you need for costings and scheduling. If your roofer tells you it will take them ten days and they will be starting on a certain date, you can set yourself a reminder to check in with him around that time and ensure it’s progressing as planned.

    “It gives you all these tools to not only know what to delegate but to delegate better and to also control and monitor it’s being done better as well.”

     

    Estimating duration and cost

    If you have your work packages you are able to add the information together to give you an idea of overall cost of the project.

    Working out the duration can be more tricky because you will need to sequence your activities. Some of the activities can be worked on concurrently and some you can take a view on whether to for example bring more people into the team on certain elements to work your schedule more favourably and deliver your project earlier.

     

    Communication and leadership

    Cesar estimates that 90% of the job of a project manager is communication. He points out that the construction industry can be a particularly tense one with most projects being based on lowest bid mentality, and when things go wrong fingers get pointed. There can be other delicate topics that need to be addressed such as safety and regulations, so if you’re a good communicator it will work to your advantage.

     

    Reviewing, managing change and lessons learned

    Reviewing is a simplification of the monitoring / controlling aspect of project management. A number of project management tools can help with this, to compare how well your schedule of costs and time is marrying up with the progress being made and the invoices being received. If you are falling behind your schedule you will be able to make the objective decision based on what you know to be the critical elements of the project, of whether to throw more money in to speed things up.

     

    Hire a professional!

    Cesar admits that he probably wouldn’t project manage his own self-build.

    “I think experience says a lot. If you hire a person and they’re able to do it faster, to do it cheaper, I find that it’s worth the investment.”

    Particularly with a project such as building your own house which can be so specialised, time consuming and expensive, Cesar recommends hiring a project manager who has experience of the subject matter who can deal with any feelings of being overwhelmed so that you don’t have to! There is still the option to oversee that process or perhaps co-manage it with them, depending on what level of involvement you’re keen to retain. It might even be a case of just hiring a project manager as a consultant in terms of the planning stage, rather than the build, so that they can direct you towards the things you should be doing and looking out for.

    Cesar suggests it is wise to “just work with someone that can provide you with this level of detail and planning so you can sleep at night and enjoy your new home when it’s done!”

     

    As a special offer Cesar is offering a free audio version with any purchase of his book. 

     

    Find out more

    Follow Cesar Abeid on Twitter

    Check out Cesar Abeid’s website

    Project Management for the Masses

    Buy the book!

     

    Transcript

    Download a transcript of the interview with Cesar Abeid.

     

    Dean and Hannah blog

    Dean and Hannah are loyal listeners of the House Planning Help podcast and have been with us since Episode 1! They’re hoping to embark on their own self-build project and are writing a blog about their experiences. You can follow their progress.

     

    Please connect with me