IMPROVEMENT OF THE DESIGN PROCESS IN THE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION. Otávio de OLIVEIRA, M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate. Márcio FABRÍCIO, M.Sc., Ph.D.

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1 IMPROVEMENT OF THE DESIGN PROCESS IN THE BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Otávio de OLIVEIRA, M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate Márcio FABRÍCIO, M.Sc., Ph.D. Silvio MELHADO, M.Sc., Ph.D 1 ABSTRACT The design process has a great influence on the building performance with a quite reduced investment, and when well planned and well performed it can provide many advantages to the several stakeholders involved in the project such as waste reduction, fewer constructive pathologies, achievement of clients' satisfaction and facilitation of the achievement of the organization s strategic objectives. In spite of the importance of design for the success of a project, it is still characterized by several technical and cultural problems, such as the frequent dissociation between the conception activity and the productive process, existence of incompatibilities coming from the parallel, uncoordinated development and of the designs of different specialties, difficulty of matching the several project players interests, information flow among the several designers without systematic control, integration difficulty among designers of different academic formations, lack of administration support given by the designs firms to these activities, etc. Therefore, this paper has as main objectives to draw the typical information flow of building design development, in order to present its main difficulties and to formulate basic guidelines for process improvement. For that purpose, a brief revision on the conception process in the buildings construction will be made, the detailing of the planning flow and execution of design will be presented and discussed and, finally, some considerations will be made regarding the applicability of these concepts and tools by analyzing case studies. A better understanding of the design process and the improvement of the administration mechanisms of design firms can generate significant benefits for the building s performance during its useful life. Based on a systemic approach focused on the particularities of the design sector, the guidelines presented in this paper can aid efficiently in the reduction of the main design problems, thus bringing benefits of several different kinds. Keywords: building design, design management, design firms, quality management 1 INTRODUCTION The Design Process encompasses the decisions, conceptions and formulations aimed to support the creation and production of a building project, from the assembling of the real estate project, going through the formulation of the needs program and the design of the product, to the development of production, the project as built and the evaluation of users satisfaction with the product. 1 Otávio de Oliveira is PhD Candidate of Civil Construction Engineering Program in the University of Sao Paulo, Escola Politécnica and Lecturer of Sao Judas Tadeu University. otaviodeoliveira@uol.com.br; Márcio Fabrício is Senior Lecturer in the University of Sao Paulo, Escola de Engenharia de Sao Carlos, Department of Architecture and Urbanism. marcio@sc.usp.br; Silvio Melhado is Associate Professor in the University of Sao Paulo, Escola Politécnica, Department of Civil Construction Engineering. silvio.melhado@poli.usp.br

2 Along the design process, several designers, consultants and project players are mobilized to contribute in the design. Each player participates with their interests and knowledge, in order to develop part of the decisions and formulations in the design. Schedules, laws and norms, financial and economic availabilities, technological and constructive possibilities, etc condition these decisions. In the development of a design process there are different communication interfaces between the main people involved, which demands several compatibilization between design specialties, so as to ensure coherence between the different decision-making parties. In this context, quality and agility in exchanging information between players is crucial to the quality of the design and to the efficiency of the design process. This paper discusses design as a process of development and qualification of information, and proposes guidelines to optimize the information flow in the design process within the context of the implementation of quality management systems in design offices. Thus, the paper discusses the main problems related to the management of the design process in building construction and presents some good practices for its management, which can be used by design offices in order to ensure that the building product meets the interests of the several players that take part in the production chain of civil construction. 2 THE PROCESS OF DESIGN CREATION AND DEVELOPMENT Several abilities, mainly of intellectual nature, are required from designers in the process of design creation. The main intellectual skills are related to the ability to analyze and synthesize information and problems, to creativity and ratiocination, to knowledge (related to the field of memory and the techniques to store information) and to the capability of communication and interaction between different persons. The ability to analyze and synthesize is crucial in the formulation of a design problem. It involves obtaining, ordering, classifying and ranking lots of apparently disconnected information and formulating a problem to be solved, from initial information and demands. Creativity and ratiocination express the human capacity to propose original spatial, technical, functional, financial and commercial solutions, and to develop solutions that are coherent with the problem posed. Knowledge is based on designers previous experience and formation, and mediates the creation and development of design solutions. Associated to knowledge is the production culture, which defines design and production repertoires related to the culture of a people or region, and which is embedded in their formation and in the design ratiocination. Representation and communication are a way to present the solutions developed (technical drawings, models, virtual models, etc.) to be executed or appreciated, and are also a form of support and extension to the intellectual development of the design solutions (sketches, simulations, etc.). These abilities are required de in an inter-related way, and are mutually dependent. The mental design process is processed through successive improvement of the ideas and of the understanding of the initial problem. In a process where all of the design issues are posed since the beginning of design, what evolves is the understanding that gets deeper along the way. Thus, from an intellectual point of view, there are no breaks in the design process when shifting from one phase to the other; it is a continuous ripening process, which gradually shifts the focus of design development. Figure 1 shows the sequence and the internal relation of these abilities. 3 THE DESIGN IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION The building design must inform the product s conceptual features and the features of its execution process, involving the architectonic definition and the definition of the technology employed in the building production.

3 Intelectual abilities information DESIGN qualified information Analysis and synthesis of information Creation of design solutions Knowledge, procedures and culture Representations and Communications INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT FIGURE 1 Abilities used in the design process. (Fabricio 2002) Design is also fundamental to the introduction of technological innovations, to the reduction of pathological problems, to ensure quality, to the rationality and the buildability of the project, thus bringing positive reflexes in its fitting to usage, in shortening the total execution lead time and lowering final costs. The design must also observe workers safety and environmental friendliness, both in the execution stage and in the usage, operation and maintenance stage. Design has been showing to be an important issue for lowering costs during the execution and the usage of the building. The anticipation of problems enables the proposition of solutions that are more adequate to execution and aimed at the rationalization of resources, thus providing substantial reduction of indecisiveness during the process of building execution. The earlier one detects potential problems related to the building s execution and usage, from the information provided by project owners and the ripening of design solutions, during the process of execution of the project, the bigger will be the ability to positively influence the costs of the project. 3 DESIGN QUALITY Designing with quality means, based on clients needs and information, providing alternatives (solutions) that really solve the posed problems, that are feasible and economically viable, and deciding rationally between them. In this decision-making process, just like in all the other ones, the availability of timely, sufficient, high-quality information, whether relating to clients needs, to the range of possible solutions, to the technologies available, to the viability of the solution in relation to other design specialties, etc., is a decisive factor to the production of quality designs that effectively cater to clients and project owners needs and expectations. Clients needs must be translated into parameters, which will be a forming part of the entry data (program) of the design process. The exit data (designs) must offer solutions for the specific product and its production, in line with the entry information. Over all, one can consider that the quality of the design depends on the quality of several intermediate stages of its execution and during its usage: quality of the program (catering to clients needs, economic-financial and commercial equation), quality of the design solutions (meeting the performance needs of building, sustainability and buildability), quality of the design

4 presentation (clarity, detail, thorough information and ease of consultation) and quality of the services related to the design (meeting lead times and costs, compatibility between design specialties, follow-up of design during execution, post-occupancy evaluation and technical assistance). Table 1 lists several components of the quality of a building design. TABLE 1. Components of design quality COMPONENTS Quality of project program (briefing) Quality of design solutions Quality of presentation Quality of services related to design RELATED ASPECTS Market research Clients needs Selection and incorporation of sites Economic-financial and commercial equation Coherence, clarity and feasibility of program specifications Compliance with program Performance: safety, habitability, durability Energetic sustainability and efficiency Buildability and rationalization Economic demands (Execution, operation, maintenance and bulldozing / reconversion costs) Clarity of information Adequate detail Thorough information Ease of consultation Agility and compliance with lead times Cost of elaboration of design Communication and involvement between designers Compatibility between design specialties Follow-up of design during execution Delivery of product and assistance by designers during usage of building Based on: ISO-DP 6241; Picchi (1993); Agenda 21 (2000) 4 INFORMATION IN THE DESIGN PROCESS Buildings can be analyzed under several different points of view. For instance, a civil engineer sees a building as a series of structural elements, but for an architect it is a collection of rooms and an envelope that functions as a filter between the external environment and its occupants. That happens because each of them has their own references and ways to structure and interpret problems and the building itself. One of the most difficult tasks in the design phase is to solve the conflicts that arise when one integrates the solutions coming from those multiple abstractions, or is decomposition into subproblems (Bailey and Smith 1994; Galle 1995). The people involved in the design and execution of a building usually work in different companies, and the group of companies that cooperate with each other varies from one project to the other. Because of that, designs peculiarities make it even harder to establish work routines

5 for execution. Therefore, effective coordination of the information exchanged between project owners, designers and constructors is necessary. Changes made by one of the designers may lead to conflicts in the development of the design, because they are not automatically reflected in the other participants drawings, reports and databanks. Without elaboration procedures that can systematically record and review the drawings, errors are inevitable. The additional time demanded by these procedures increases the cost of the process (Teichholz and Fischer 1994). In the design process, in general, the information is spread without any structure or classification, leading to many problems between the parties involved (Aouad et al. 1994). The constant switching of suppliers, the dynamic relationship between the players and their different interests (their personal aims and their different needs) are factors that make it difficult for the process to be flexible and tend also to increase the difficulty of exchanging information. The use of a simple model, aimed at integrating every participant, can limit the impact of these problems and increase productivity, thus proving the need to look for concrete alternatives for the controlled exchange of information between designer-designer and designer-construction, signaling the importance of managing design firms. Figure 2 shows the main development stages of a design process, and its information flow. In the initial stage (entry data) it is necessary to consider information about the project, coming from various players (project owner, financial agent, users, technology, suppliers, etc). Such information must undergo treatment and purification. Based on them, on the current legislation and on the features of the site, it is possible to carry out an analysis of project risks. After that, one moves on to the development of the design itself, which must be validated (approved) by the contractor to be, then, distributed for execution. We also point out that, after those stages, designers must monitor the execution stage, and conduct a post-occupancy evaluation (POE), which are important tools for generating information that will serve to improve future projects. - PROJECT OWNER - FINANCIAL AGENT - USERS - TECHNOLOGY - SUPPLIERS,... - SITE - LEGISLATION - CHECK LIST - COMPATIBILITY - QUALITY ASSURANCE ENTRY DATA TREATMENT OF INFORMATION ANALYSIS OF DESIGN RISKS DEVELOP MENT OF DESIGN VALIDATION DISTRIBUTION AS BUILT MONITORING EXECUTION POE - PRELIMINARY STUDY - SCHEME DESIGN - LEGAL DESIGN - EXECUTIVE DESIGN - DESIGN FOR PRODUCTION POE = Post-Occupancy Evaluation FIGURE 2 Flow of stages and information in the development of building design.

6 5 MAIN PROBLEMS THAT AFFECT THE DESIGN OF BUILDINGS IN BRAZIL Several difficulties are related to the design activity in Brazil, which add to its lack of quality and its well-known technical problems. Those might be classified into systemic, structural and market difficulties (PSQ 1997). Systemic difficulties involve the poor quality of architecture and engineering courses; insufficient inspection by the class organization, which gives way to the illegal practice of a designer s profession; lack of support to researches by the government, universities and entities related to the design activity; clients low level of demand about the quality of designs; and constant oscillations in the demand for designs, due to its dependence to the country s economic conjecture. As to the market difficulties, there is dispersion in the sector, where there is a large amount of professionals working in a fragmented way; absence of methodologies to monitor the demand for designs, which hinders the planning of professionals; and lack of coordination between the design activity and the other stages in the construction process, which characterizes a considerable deficiency in the integration of the productive chain. The structural difficulties are related to the deficiencies in the methods to develop the design process; lack of investment on human resources by design firms; lack of constancy in the formation of work teams; low level of integration between professionals related to design activities; difficulty to follow the technological evolution in the construction sector; contractors demand of different standards and procedures; low level of normalization; and lastly the absence of a culture of use of performance indicators for a building during its usage as entry information for the design. These difficulties strongly contribute to the existence of technical problems in the design sector: defective conception, incompatibility between designs, flaws in the specification of materials, defective programming, designs that are too complex, problems with blueprints, lack of consideration of the real underground conditions, difficult accessibility to the services to be executed, etc. and they, therefore, deserve special attention from professionals in the sector, in the academic community and in the Brazilian government, so that the overall execution conditions can be improved. Design deficiencies can also bring serious consequences to the construction process, even to the extent of the project becoming unfeasible. According to Tilley and Barton (1997), a low quality design can generate the following effects: reduction in the efficiency of the construction process, increased risk to the construction contract, increase in costs for both the contractor and the end client and increase in the occurrence of non-quality in the project. We can still point out the following factors as difficulties in the implantation of changes connected to design activity: lack of specification for product characteristics, fixing of very short deadlines, lack of technical requirements to guide the architect, development of the design in a fragmented manner, difficult relationship between the contractor and the design firm, incoherent payments to designers, thorough review of the detailed design only in its almost final form, areas of supply, planning and costs which don t provide adequate support to the decisions to be made at the design stage, absence of feedback and recording of solutions found for construction problems during the execution, and reluctance of the design firms in relation to changes (Oliveira and Melhado 2003). To the range of causes for problems in the design process, one can still add the fact that part of the information related to clients needs is lost in the beginning of the process (briefing), and another part is lost during its development (for example, the design intention of a designer is not communicated to the following phases, and it can be spoiled by decisions in them), there is very little improvement and optimization of the design solutions (for example, the actions or the opportunities of the following phases are not taken into account) and quality errors of the design linger in the final product. Quality management in design firms presents to be one of the alternatives with the biggest potential to solve these problems. Associated with quality management, several methods and tools are available to minimize recurrent problems in the design activity, such as the simultaneous design, the design for production, the databank on constructive technology, the post-occupancy evaluation, etc.

7 In the next item presents some general guidelines for quality management in design firms based in the partial results of a research still in process that it is being accomplished by the Polytechnic School of the São Paulo University and that up to now researched through questionnaire 40 building construction companies and it accomplished case study in 5 design firms of buildings of small and medium size. 6 GUIDELINES FOR QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN DESIGN FIRMS The improvement of the design process depends directly on the global management quality existing in the design firm. Furthermore, the quality management system must consider the companies peculiarities and those of the process of building development, i.e. it is necessary to develop mechanisms, obtained from general management theory and practice, adapted to the reality of those organizations and processes. Due to its small size and few resources, the use of simplified tools for management of technical and administrative processes is a crucial condition for any proposition in that field. One of the biggest challenges to improve those companies performances is the designers awareness of the potentialities that a well-structured management system can provide. Those companies high dependence on their owners (usually the head designers) style of management and level of entrepreneurism hinders the improvement on their processes. The modification of this scenario is hindered by the inertia of organizations and their workers in face of change. It is only possible to obtain success in introducing a new management philosophy in design firms if their managers are convinced of the benefits that it can provide, and if they really want to implement it. After the board of managers is committed, it must be strongly pursued that the other collaborators also commit to the cause. And that is only possible by clarifying objectives and by how that new program will be implemented, as well as the results that are expected. The following presents general guidelines for the management of the main items that might form the base of a quality management system aimed at design offices: commercial process, information system, management of human resources, design process, design delivery and design performance evaluation. Commercial Process The design firm must have a proactive stand about the search of new clients, using the available marketing tools that are consecrated by the market. It must cherish the first contacts with potential clients, so that they are positively impressed and it is possible to create a good company image. It is necessary to create tools that ensure the continuity of the relationship with established clients; to analyze the critical requisitions of commercial propositions as a source of improvement for future jobs; and to establish a methodology for the formulation of prices, based on reliable financial tools, thus eliminating informal practices. Information system At first, it may seem that obtaining concise, reliable, timely information is an easy job. However, designers and design collaborators culture does not work towards this goal. The design firm must identify its strengths and weaknesses in the exchange of internal and external information, and it must establish appropriate standardized procedures for the main information flows in the company: designer-contractor, designer-designer and designerconstruction. Attention must also be paid to the issuing, forwarding and archiving of digital and printed documents. In face of current practices, it is necessary to adequate the communication system to collaborative environments (extranets) that allow the simultaneous development of designs by different companies, by sharing real-time information. Management of Human Resources Designers have great difficulty in seeing the manager role as a part of their work. They were formed, and continue to behave during their professional lives, as solely technical professionals.

8 However, they carry out managerial tasks. In most cases, they themselves have to manage (physical, time, capital, etc) resources that they spend in conducting their own tasks, be they owners or collaborators in a design office. The people responsible for design firms must try to develop leadership skills aimed at motivation, integration, planning and management of processes, costs and schedules. They must see their teams and their own training as a tool to reach the goals sought by the company. The selection of personnel in design firms must take into consideration the importance of academic formation, of professional experience, of candidates personality traits and motivation for work. The design activity demands, from the professionals who work with it, concentration, and methodic aspects in the execution of some tasks and check lists, autonomy, creativity and criticism. It is evidently very difficult to find all these desirable features in one person, but it is necessary to know them, to know their importance and, above all, to pay attention to their identification when interviews or other selective procedures are conducted. Last, we highlight the importance of the processes of labor outsourcing and subcontracting of companies in design activities. When a design, or part of it, is outsourced, indeed most of the responsibility for its perfect execution must be attributed to the outsourced firm or designer. However, this situation does not discharge the contractor of an important share of responsibility, because it was he who was contracted to carry it out in the first place. Design process The guidelines for managing the design process are a most intense object of studies by researchers in the area. Concepts such as compatibilization, coordination and simultaneous development of design specialties have already shown to be viable with usage. Tools such as the constructive technology databank, site works preparation and designs for production are more and more used in Brazil, although they still lack definite research results to reach the ripening stage to ensure their larger effectiveness. Designers must pay a lot of attention to the phase of elaborating the clients needs program, so that, based on it, they can create an operational plan for the design activities to be executed. The control in pre-established key moments is what ensures the compliance with deadlines, costs and quality of the design as final product. Design delivery Design offices must establish as a rule that, after the client validates the design, it must be formally delivered in loco. Even if the design is initially delivered to a contractor that has not yet decided who the constructor will be, it is important to make it clear that, when the construction is executed, the designer must be contacted to do at least one presentation of its general features and main particularities. This attitude will considerably minimize the calls for explanations, details and fixes after the design is delivered. It is important to remember that the design, apart from being designers product, is also their largest means of advertising. All of the additional services that one is able to provide to clients must be seen as investments, and not expenses. These services are crucial to keep the existing business relations and to generate new ones. Design performance evaluation Generally, for most Brazilian designers the verification of a design s performance is based solely on the opinion of one of the players that work in the development of the building: the contractor of the design. It is also noticed that the evaluation, apart from being informal, is based on parameters that are too general. It is necessary to verify, apart from the design s specific technical aspects, items such as schedules, price, clarity, level of compatibility with other design specialties, technical assistance, etc. A good evaluation of design performance must necessarily anticipate validation gates, considering the several stages and interests involved. The design must be critically analyzed by all of the participants of its execution, and validated by the several clients involved, in order to ensure its coherence with the goals proposed and with the subsequent production process. To conduct that activity, a general investigation on the product is not sufficient, but it is necessary to elaborate checklists and objective, straightforward

9 tools that verify specific aspects that might indicate which weaknesses can be improved and which items have good performance and should be kept as they are. Such relations are generically presented in Figure 3. input data DESIGN stage (conception and representation of solutions) output data validation execution design review modification ARCHIVE FIGURE 3 Control of design stages. (Melhado 1999) An efficient and effective quality management system in design firms can provide better control over information, either in the form of oral communication with clients, designers, construction and users, or in the control over documentation; it can help in the formulation of business proposals and the review of clients demands; facilitate the updating of professionals with the elaboration of training plans; enable the planning and control of the design process itself (control of schedule, costs, productivity etc.); organize and systematize the outsourcing of services; facilitate the designer s participation in the processes of design coordination organized by himself or by others; help in the institution of design delivery, presentation and validation; provide tools and information for a follow-up of construction by the designer and for evaluation of contractors, constructors and users satisfaction; and lastly it can create an environment that is proper to the implementation of the innovations aimed at the design process: simultaneous design, collaborative systems, constructive technology databank, design for production, etc. 7 CONCLUSIONS This paper had as main goal to do a small contribution for improvement of this scenery from the discussion of the main difficulties in the implementation of quality management systems in design firms, and also to present basic guidelines for its development. We believe that these guidelines, even if they are introductory, can serve as ground for a deeper and wider usage of these tools in design firms, a tendency that shows to be very strong nowadays, in Brazil. REFERENCES Alarcón, L.F Training field personnel to identify waste and improvement opportunities. In: Lean Construction. Alarcón, L.F. (ed.), A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, pp Aouad, G. et all Integration of construction information (ICON). Working Paper. Salford: University of Salford, July Fabricio, M.M Projeto Simultâneo na Construção de Edifícios. Thesis (Doctorate) São Paulo: EPUSP. Fontenelle, E.C Estudos de caso sobre a gestão do projeto em empresas de incorporação e construção. 369p. Dissertation (Master of Engineering) São Paulo: EPUSP. Fruchter, R. et al Interdisciplinary communication of design critique in the conceptual design stage. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Computing in Civil Engineering, p.p

10 Galle, P Towards integrated, intelligent, and compliant computer modeling of buildings. Automation in Construction. V. 4, n. 3., Oct. 1995,p.p Glavan, J.R.; Tucker, R.L Forecasting design-related problems case study. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. Vol n. 1. Melhado, S.B O plano da qualidade dos empreendimentos e a engenharia simultânea na construção de edifícios. Proceedings of the Encontro Nacional de Engenharia de Produção, 1999, Rio de Janeiro. Rio de Janeiro: UFRJ/ABEPRO. CD-ROM Melhado, S.B Gestão, cooperação e integração para um novo modelo voltado à qualidade do processo de projeto na construção de edifícios. 235p. Thesis (Post-Doctorate) - São Paulo: EPUSP. Oliveira, O.J. (org.) Gestão da qualidade: tópicos avançados. São Paulo: Pioneira Thomson Learning. Oliveira, O.J.; Melhado, S.B Guidelines for the formulation of a new quality management system for design firms. In: Proceedings of the International CIB W99 Conference Construction Project Management System: the Challenge of Integration. São Paulo: Escola Politécnica da USP/ CIB. Tilley, P.A.; Barton, R Design and documentation deficiency: causes and effects. Proceedings of the Conference on construction process re-engineering. Gold-Coast, Australia.