Make sure you allow enough time in your project plan for designs and drawings to be approved, internally as well as by the client.

It is common to need 1-2 weeks for each step of FDR (Final Design Review), IDC (Interdisciplinary Check), Verification, IFC (Issue For Construction) etc reviews and approvals, especially if more than one person must approve these.

It is important to keep track of the approval status of these and follow up on people to review and sign them. I often find that although people get notified, they overlook signing the reviews or it sits on a desk waiting and gets buried.

If all the approvers are collocated, it is often worth having someone walk the documents around personally to each person for their approval, this can dramatically reduce the time taken and stop the documents being buried under other work or being forgotten about.

Tagged with: approval • drawings • review • verification

Filed under: Design • Documentation

Don’t get blanket approvals on drawings or designs without each one being marked as approved by the client.

A client may send documentation stating that the designs or drawings are approved for construction, but unless they mark each drawing as approved and return them to you, you have no proof that they actually did review each of them. Without the marked approval, the client could deny they saw a particular drawing or design.

Get each design or drawing individually marked as approved.

Tagged with: approval

Filed under: Client • Design • Documentation

Make sure that the contract specifies the length of time allowed for approvals or decisions.

When drawings or documents are sent to the client for approval, you need to know (and specify) when they will be approved.

Allow for this time in your plan, and make sure the client knows this is in the plan.

Be sure that the contract specifies what will happen if approvals are delayed beyond the specified time (extra payments, extensions of time, etc).

Tagged with: approval

Filed under: Client • Communication • Contract • Planning • Time

Make sure you get a signed agreement before work is started on the project.

This is important both from getting the signed contract from the client, but also to do the same if you are using subcontractors.

Make sure the agreement allows you to terminate the subcontractor

Get written agreement to all terms and conditions.

If agreement is a long process and you have to instruct the subcontractor to start some work, make a written authorization and get it signed and set a cost limit to that work.

If your company decides to begin work before getting formal written approval to proceed you must get approval from management as high up as possible in your company. You must also be aware that the risks on the project have substantially increased by not having a written contract.

Tagged with: approval • Contract • sign

Filed under: Contract