Standards vs Guidelines: The Benefits of Establishing Process
Date Posted: February 23, 2023
Posted In: Discussion,
From Building Design+Construction: Designers are responsible to clients in multiple ways. Maintaining a brand’s high aesthetic standards is key among them, but additional more pragmatic responsibilities such as budget and establishing client tools for successful future projects can be equally important. This is where the benefits of guidelines and standards enters the designer-client conversation.
Defining standards
Standards are explicit documents outlining specific products that may be used in a commercial space going forward. The standards define a kit of parts and prescribe a set or package of specifications, and are most often requested by larger organizations/retailers for procurement purposes and brand consistency. Standards allow a client to negotiate quantities and prices with suppliers using a streamlined process.
THE MOST CRITICAL BENEFIT OF STANDARDS
The unsung hero of standards may be the impact they can have on speed to market and price of product and project. We asked IA’s Kristi Farley, a Project Director at IA’s Atlanta studio, to elaborate on this. “Historically, a project gets priced when the construction documents (CDs) are issued,” she explains. “If you include the architects, contractors, and others in the schematic phase and negotiate items upfront, you have a broader opportunity to pick and choose the finishes and selections your client wants. With upfront, negotiated pricing there are fewer changes to the project and CDs, as well as a higher probability of maintaining the scope, schedule, and budget within parameters.”
Farley goes on to describe the consequences of pricing these items after CDs have been issued. “At this point, it’s too late, and you’re out of time. But if an organization has standards, you’re not selecting things at this stage—you’re dropping them in.”
The use of standards can positively impact the quality of a project’s outcome. “If a general contractor is pricing the design team’s products and finishes at the back end of the design process, beginning with CDs, the project suffers because there isn’t enough time to work through the variety of possible options and cost-saving measures. If the client does not have standards, you’re now reselecting products and finishes during the CD phase and sometimes that is too late.” Elaborating on why this time is so critical, she explains “At this point, you usually don’t have time to select something of equal quality because you just lost the time you needed upfront in the schematic design and design development phases to explore your options.”