Value management

In many respects, value management is simply a formalisation of an aspect of architectural service that competent architects have always provided to their clients. It constitutes the examination and 'valuation' of design or construction options and formalises the process to include all of the stakeholders including the client in the decision-making process.

There is, of course, a great deal of emphasis on 'value', and the value management process is helpful in defining what this term means for the particular project being examined.

Value management is not only about cost saving but is a process to establish the 'value' to the project of the various briefed (and perhaps unbriefed) client requirements and to place these into a project context.

Value management is a disciplined method of identifying areas of potential cost saving, for considering design options and to assist in the selection of the best value solution. It helps identify where the conflicting criteria of minimum cost, maximum quality, best performance and minimum delivery time can be addressed and balanced.

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Timing of value management

The maximum benefits of value management are greatest at the beginning of a project, in particular, during brief development and the initial design stages. They diminish rapidly as the project progresses past the design development stage.

Clients sometimes elect to undertake value management late in the project. At the later stages of the project, value management usually produces limited advantages for the client, but is likely to have a impact on the architect and the design. Changes that result from later reviews often entail re-documentation, delays in construction and can have unforeseen implications on other aspects of the design. It is unlikely that the full, indirect costs associated with a potential saving identified in the later review will be either understood or considered in the decision-making process. Any proposed changes that are identified during late reviews should be assessed with great care.

Used sensibly in the early stages of a project, value management can bring real benefits to a project by:

• evaluating and balancing all reasonable design options against the client's objectives
• addressing urgent design decisions at the beginning of the design process
• reviewing, amending (if necessary) and confirming the brief and important design criteria before the design is too committed
• examination and confirmation of the budget
• addressing life cycle cost issues and other operational considerations.

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The process

Value management is usually delivered through a workshop co-ordinated by a facilitator. The facilitator should be independent of the design team, familiar with the design and construction process and with the roles of the various members of the design team.

The group includes representatives of the client, architect, engineers (civil, structural and services) and quantity surveyors. Other specialist consultants may attend to assist with specific issues. All participants must attend with the full authority to make binding decisions. An 'outside' architect may be useful for large or complex projects.

Workshops may be as short as a day or as long as a week, depending on the complexity of the project. Most value management facilitators will follow a value management plan which would usually incorporate the following phases:

• Information phase: all available information about the project is assembled and reviewed, including any designs, budgets, operational requirements, energy and environmental issues, program, delivery strategy, etc.
• Analysis phase: the intended functions of the proposed project are analysed, costed and reviewed. Value criteria are defined.
• Creative phase: ideas for alternatives or options that might improve ‘value’ and/or save costs are identified through discussion. There are no judgements at this stage, just ideas.
• Evaluation phase: the ideas are evaluated against the 'value' criteria and those with merit are retained; those without are discarded.
• Development phase: the surviving ideas are further developed to test their feasibility. Some preliminary design may be undertaken and estimates prepared for initial cost and in some cases life cycle cost.
• Presentation phase: the results of the workshop are summarised, presented and agreed.

Usually at the end of the workshop a value management report is prepared which summarises the decisions.

Used as a tool to confirm or refine the brief, budget and design criteria, value management can offer architects an opportunity to demonstrate that they produce projects of value and to demonstrate to the client that the best value, defined in the client's terms and with the client's participation, will be delivered.

Architects may undertake the review of the project brief and some preliminary design as a participatory process involving the client and the main sub-consultants. This could achieve much the same result as would be achieved through value management, with the benefit of the architect retaining control of the process while ensuring that the client 'owns' the decisions that are made.

Where the provision of a value management process is not articulated or specifically excluded from the architects scope of services, the time to be provided through the value management process and subsequent updates to documentation, might need to be considered as a variation to services for the architect. See Acumen note Variation to services.

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