INSIGHT
NAVIGATING RISKS IN COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENTS High performance has a close link with collaboration. Engaging and relying upon each party performing their own specialist function ensures that the sum is greater than the parts.
The nature of both your contractual engagement, as well as who else you may engage, are important leading factors to gain perspective on how liabilities may be shared across multiple parties.
In either structure the actual activities undertaken by the Quantity Surveyor do not significantly change. However, the nature of your interaction and the chain of liability changes dramatically.
For the Quantity Surveyor, in a multiparty project the default consideration is one of “what is my role?” However, when assessed from a risk management perspective that one consideration is sandwiched between two other key questions;
Navigating the risks involved in collaboration ensures an understanding of each interaction, and gives the Quantity Surveyor perspective on how to best align their Services, Contracts, and Insurances all the while focussing on what they do best, and providing high quality specialist services.
Figure 1 outlines an example of a flat project structure for example in a tender or feasibility environment preconstruction. Under a flat structure, each consulting professional has an engagement and reporting line back to the Principal or Project Manager. Any liability for the conduct of others is limited, as there are not multiple layers of sub-contracting.
1. How am I being engaged and by whom? 2. What is my role? 3. What or who else am I responsible for?
Projects can often tend towards one of two ends of the sub-contacting spectrum, with either a very flat structure, or a much longer “daisy chain” structure.
In this environment, a Quantity Surveyor provides their own services, and only carries responsibility for their own work.
THE BUILDING ECONOMIST - JUNE 2018 - 27
