ARCHITECTURAL

PRACTICE
Jit Kumar Gupta
ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE
 Architectural practice remains a very complex system requiring;
 -- adequate professional skill,
 --management skill,
 -- hiring appropriate skilled manpower, managing the employees, consultants and
associates
 -- promoting the interest of the employee, becoming good manager
 --understanding the professional,
 --capacity to understand client,-- capability to convince client,
 -- understanding the complexity of legal framework related to various typologies of
projects,
 - dealing with statutory bodies involved in approvals etc
 ability to guide the client for obtaining optimum results,
 --providing value for money to client, --Hiring good contractor
 - providing drawings on time and schedule
 Checking the bills and making payments to the contractor etc
 Checking the quality of work; maintenance of accounts, payment of taxes etc
 - Scheduling the project
 Accordingly before starting the practice it will be advisable that one
must work in a professionally managed architects office for minimum 4-
5 years. acquire sufficient knowledge and understanding before starting
the practice.
ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE
 An architect has to open a office to:
 -- produce optimum work and
 -- deliver efficient service
 Methods of starting practice
 Starting own proprietorship firm
 Buying out practice from others
 Inheriting
 Joining some firm and rise from ranks to become
partner
 Joining other architects/ professionals to open
practice
 Joining Govt offices, PSU , CORPORATIONS
 ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE
 In a small office-architect has to do all work—
sourcing project, prepare sketches, finalising schemes,
preparing submission drawings, obtaining approvals,
preparing working drawings/ cost-estimates,
preparing/calling tenders, selecting contractor,
supervising construction, ensuring completion besides
maintaining accounts and office
 In Older practice—office will have-- engineer to
prepare estimates/tender/supervise work,
 Draughtsman/ – to do detailed drawings,taking out
prints ,storing drawings
 Typist –cum- receptionist- for reception, typing, record
keeping, diary and dispatch
 office boy- for visiting other offices, depositing
documents
 ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE
 In a big practice—
 where architects are more than 15-20-
 - trend is to form teams of 3-4 architects headed by a senior
architect as a team leader
 -- team completely responsible for the project
 - principal architect provides overall approach/ concept/ interaction
with clients
 -- in few cases team leader vested with all powers:
 -- even to interact with clients, contractors, consultants
 --under direction of principal architect
 Turn over is more with greater freedom
 Senior architects given salary+ performance bonus
 Office Management
 Office is a place
 -where records are prepared ,handled and preserved
 -- which is centre of business
 -- where administrative functions—communication, safety, security, co-
ordination, planning, cost- efficiency, public relation, achieving organizational
goals are performed.
 Therefore office must –
 - improve existing information system
 -Reduce paper work-
 -- using computer in all areas
 --Encourage creative thinking and employees participation
 --Improve/maintain public relation
 --Attract, acquire and retain talent
 - promote cost-efficient office services
 --Decentralisation of functions to the extent possible
 -Achieving greater productivity through incentives
 -- involving employees in productivity- cost, meeting deadlines etc
Architects duties towards employees,
associates and consultants
 Architects( Professional Conduct) Regulations, 1989-state that
Architect would provide their employees with:
 -- suitable working environment,
 --compensate them fairly and
 -- facilitate their professional development,
 -- recognize and respect professional contribution of his
employees
 -- provide their associates
 -- with suitable working environment
 -- compensate them fairly and
 -- facilitate their professional development,
 -- recognize and respect the professional contribution of his
associates
 -- recognize and respect professional contribution of consultants,
 --. enter into agreement with them defining their scope of work,
responsibilities, functions, fees and mode of payment
 Management and Architects
 Management is the art and science of getting results through
other people.
 In architecture besides making other people to perform
architect has also to be role model and professional
contributor- Team leader
 Architect as co-ordinator is required to co-ordinate the
activities of Key players- consultants, contractor, client,
regulatory authorities, sub-contractor, vendors etc- duty is to
organise the team to meet defined goals
 As a Visionary- he is to carry out SWOT analysis of project
and prepare contingency plan for meeting any eventualities
 As a part of business management—control factors like
cost, labour, time,, technology, site execution to complete the
project within defined time and defined cost
Professional Practice- Office structure
 Location--Try to locate office in a central place with
visibility and accessibility
 Office layout- informal, more open, less rigid, less
hierarchical, promoting personal relationship, generally
exclusive cabins for the partners and open cabins for
senior designers, work stations, meeting
rooms,/discussion area- for
meetings/presentation/display of models with
clients/consultants
 Library- for knowing latest trends in architecture/
materials/ technologies, doing experimentation, value
addition to projects/staff/employees, documentation,
reference, knowing norms & standards, creating data
base, research, publications , preparing project
reports– books, reputed journals, reports, drawings etc
Professional Practice- Office structure
 Material or Sample collection— Architect office must
have large sample collecting area to know latest products in
the market to promote greater creative expression- using
compact discs for saving space with proper cataloguing
 Administrative Section- in small offices number of
functions are combined to be done by one or more
persons, but in medium /large offices separate
administrative office/manager needs to be appointed to
discharge administrative functions besides accountants to
manage finances.- staff may include- liaison person, public
relation officer, staff boys, security personnel etc
 Store- for storing drawings, materials, record, xerox /
printing machine/ printer-
Professional Practice- Office structure
 Pantry– for serving/ preparing beverages/tea/ heating
food/drinking water facility/washing/ coffee/ tea dispenser
 Reception area/entrance lobby- for projecting good
image and making value addition to
 office– appealing/good sign board/logo/office address/
photographs/models/good lighting /furniture /painting/
murals/good interiors/colour scheme /flooring/carpeting/false
ceiling
 Finances- deals with income/expenditure apart from saving-
office though not commercial efforts need to be made to
increase income and control expenditure and earn
reasonable profit, Provision to be made for taxes/ light
beverages /snacks/ gifts to employees/picnics/annual parties-
account to be maintained by trained manpower- statements
to be prepared by Chartered accountants for taxation
besides making use of deductions on books, vehicles,
entertaining clients
Professional Practice- Office structure
 Human Resource management-
 Growth of any organisation depends upon—
 - Hiring right kind of employees
 Making employees supportive/committed to
organisation
 - Keep employees happy / satisfied/ motivated/
providing right kind of ambience- competitive salary,
incentives, allowances, bonus ,PPF, gratuity assured
career promotion, work freedom, sponsoring for
seminars/conferences/annual leave/ flexible working
hours/ providing support during period of
hardships/taking personal care/ providing training in
learning new softwares/ providing opportunities for
higher qualifications- IIA etc
Expression of
Interest
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
 Expression of interest (EOI) -- process of seeking an indication of
interest from potential service providers who are capable of undertaking
specific work
 Expression of interest -- submission made by a prospective tenderer in
response to an advertisement for supply of goods/ service
 It is a method by which a client compiles a list of ----potential supplier
 other than recommendations,; research,
 maintaining a pre-selected list of possible suppliers based on track
record,
 asking consultants to prepare a list.
 Expressions of interest -- form of open tendering that allows anyone to
put themselves forward.
 offers greatest competition
 advantage of having new / emerging suppliers to try to secure work.
 Criticised for:
 -- attracting large numbers of suppliers
 --, some of whom may be entirely unsuitable for contract
 -- can waste a time, effort and money.
expressions of interest
 An advertisement placed online or in print press to
include:
 Description of contracting body.
 Description of nature of contract, including scale and budget.
 Procurement route, contract type and conditions.
 Programme.
 Submission address and deadline.
 Details of the information required in EOI
 Contact details.
 Description of company– including financial information.
 Relevant experience and technical capacity.
 Staff experience and availability.
 References.
 expressions of interest
 Tender process can be a long one,
 to avoid potential delays,
 EOI should be sought as early as practical.
 For construction contract-- when planning
approval is received.
 for public projects-- process can be very slow .
 Ideally, contracts for goods/ services required for
project should be advertised at outset of project
or soon as possible afterwards.
 Failure to advertise could result in long delays.
Difference between EOI & RFP
 An Expression of Interest (EOI)
 -- multi-staged process
 -- used to shortlist potential suppliers
 --before seeking detailed bids
 -- used when information required from tenderers is
specific but agency unsure of capability of suppliers to
provide required goods / services.
 A Request for Proposal( RFP)–
 -- can be a single or a multi-staged process
 -- used when project or requirement
 -- has been defined,
 -- but where an innovative/ flexible solution is sought
References
 Handbook of Professional
documents– Council of Architecture
 Professional Practice– K G
Krishnamurthy& S V Ravindra– PHI
Learning Private limited, Rimjim
House, 111 Patparganj Industrial
Estate
 Delhi- 110092