FIS has been working with contractors in membership to better understand how the failures of the design process and the way in which design responsibility is novated presents unreasonable levels of risk to the specialist drylining contractor. When the design of drylining packages land with the specialist subcontractor with no controls placed on the scope of the package or competence requirements, the contractor will often be asked to take on risks that cannot be adequately priced or managed. Working with members of our Drylining Working Group, FIS has been working on a number of interventions that provide meaningful controls in these circumstances:
- We have been working on improving the coverage of our quality control checklists to include design and tender stages that help members follow a more robust process. These checklists are available on the FIS website and are being regularly updated.
- In Summer this year, we published a comprehensive competence framework for Drylining design engineers that makes it easier for contractors appointing design expertise (either in-house or using consultants) to demonstrate competence and place further controls on the exposure to design risk.
- Design code of practice documents are in advanced draft both for the drylining design package and separately for the overall fit-out process. These documents will provide much needed standardisation to the design process that includes the need for a design responsibility matrix, including critical timelines for appointment, gateways that ensure risks are managed at crucial points throughout RIBA stages 3 and 4 that are typically overlooked and controls to highlight process and further reduce risk around complex design interfaces that are not normally understood by principal designers.
This subject is explored in more detail the upcoming issue of SpecFinish