Know the responsibilities of relevant people in the building services industry

What questions do we have to ask ourselves before looking at this learning outcome?

What types of customers will you be dealing with?

What types of communication will be required between different members of the team?

What responsibilities do different level operatives have?

What responsibilities do supervisors have?

Let's tackle these one by one

Customers

Communicating with clients

You will be required to communicate with clients throughout a project, updating them on

the progress of the job. Some information can be communicated verbally, but most

instructions should be delivered in writing. Written agreements help avoid

miscommunication and provide a permanent record for future reference.

It's impossible for some businesses to give standard prices for goods and services, as

the skills, time and materials required for each job vary depending on different

customers' needs. This situation is more common in some trades than others -

decorators or builders, for example, rarely do exactly the same job twice. When it's not

possible to work from a standard price list, you have to give a quotation or an estimate

instead.

Quotation

A quotation is a fixed price offer that can't be changed once accepted by the customer.

This holds true even if you have to carry out much more work than you expected. If you

think this is likely to happen, it makes more sense to give an estimate. You can also

specify in the quotation precisely what it covers, and that variations outside of this will be

subject to additional charges. A written quotation is generally the first piece of written

communication with the customer.

Estimate

An estimate is an educated guess at what a job may cost - but it isn't binding. To take

account of possible unforeseen developments, you should provide several estimates

based on various circumstances, including the worst-case scenario. This will prevent

your customer from being surprised by the costs.

Invoice

An invoice is the request for payment which will be given to the customer at the end of a

job.

Communication

Communicating with the site management team

Variation orders

A variation is generally defined as the alteration or modification of the design, quality or quantity of the contract works. This includes the addition, omission or substitution of any work, including the alteration of the kind or standard of the materials. The architect may issue instructions from time to time requiring variations which the contractor is required under the terms of the contract to comply with. Any modification to the works must be the subject of variation orders which constitute an instruction from the architect to the contractor.

Work programme

A work programme or schedule of works when used in the construction industry refers to a schedule that is a basic timeline of how the site should run. This should show the start and set up of the site to the completion and handover of the finished works, with all the various procedures and building works shown on the work schedule in between. The work programme will be used by architects, quantity surveyors, project managers and self builders and is often required from banks and lenders party to any building development. The Construction Manager is usually responsible for ensuring the work programme is kept to and the job runs as smoothly as possible.

Tender

Construction bidding is the process of submitting a proposal, or tender, to undertake or manage a construction project. The process starts with a construction estimate from blueprints and take offs. The tender is treated as an offer to do the work for a certain amount of money (firm price), or a certain amount of profit (cost reimbursement or cost plus). The tender which is submitted by the competing firms is generally based on a bill of quantities, a bill of approximate quantities or other specifications which enable the tenders attain higher levels of accuracy

Bill of quantities

Bills of quantities are usually prepared by Estimators. They are prepared by a “taking off” process in which the cost of a building or other structure is estimated from measurements in the Structural Engineer's drawings. These are used to create a cost estimate such as in regard to the square area in meters of walls and roofs, the numbers of doors and windows, and systems as heating, plumbing and electrics. Similar types of work are then brought together under one item, a process known as "abstracting". The Quantity Surveyor is responsible for evaluating costs to ensure the budget is not exceeded and measuring all materials used on a job.

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