b'What experts sayJaap de Koning, procurement expert at Witteveen+BosJaap de Koning is head of the Contracting & Procurement team at Witteveen+Bos, a major Dutch consulting and engineering firm. In the Netherlands, he is the go-to expert for complex tendering matters, including those related to briefing.What is the formal status of a project brief inall technical aspects. Preferably, all requirements a project? are of the same level of detail. Moreover, a good The brief has a more important statusespeciallybrief should be free of multi-interpretable or in legal termsthan most project managersconflicting requirements.realize, but it depends on how the project is organized. Traditionally, a construction clientDoes it make sense to differentiate between first develops a brief and then hires an architect.minimum requirements and negotiable In that case, the brief is a part of the formalrequirements?agreement with the architect, but its contentsThis too depends on phasing and contract form. are seen as flexible because the project is stillWhen is it that you expect to negotiate about the in an exploratory stage. The briefs legal statusrequirements: during the tender or after contract becomes heavier, however, in the case ofclosure? In the tender phase, I recommended integrated contracts. With a Design & Constructnot to use negotiable requirements as it can lead contract, the contractor is responsible for bothto offers that are difficult to compare. But after design and construction. The client has no directcontract closure, some degree of negotiation involvement in the design process which meansmight lead to a better solutions.that the brief becomes the clients main steering tool. Having a good brief is in that case crucial.Integrated contracts often stipulate that If it is incomplete, there will be extra work. If itcontractors must demonstrate compliance contains flaws, there will be discussions thatwith the clients requirements. Good idea?may impact the projects timeline and budget.In the light of the tendering rules that we use in the If it contains ambiguities, the client may getNetherlands (the UAV-GC), yes, this is logical. design solutions that are different from what wasBut it is, again, a good idea to be somewhat expectedtypically cheaper ones. So, in general,flexible. For both the contractor and the client, the brief becomes more important when you givethere may very well be a benefit in deviating from a contractor more freedom and responsibility. a particular requirement. But, of course, only if this is communicated and agreed with the client.Any real-life examples of the issues that you mention? Any recommendations for construction Sure. In a Design & Construct tender for a parkingclients?garage, the construction client had specified thatLet me start by saying that, from a legal the floors should be hard. He assumed that thisperspective, it is the clients responsibility to would give him a concrete floor. The contractor,develop a good brief. That sounds obvious, but however, had decided to opt for cobblestones insome clients try to pass the responsibility on to sand. That was a perfectly fine solution given thethe market parties by asking them to do a quality low groundwater level and it was much cheapercheck of the brief. That can create noise about for the builder. The client wasnt happy with it butwho is responsible in case of errors in the brief. ultimately accepted the floor as it was built. It is aWell, ultimately it is still the client. So, clients: nice example of a functional requirement that cantake your responsibility and develop a good brief. be understood in different ways. The example alsoOther recommendations: Think carefully about shows that functional requirements can representthe briefs role in relation to the choice of contract. risks for both clients and contractors. WritingTake a structured systems engineering approach functional requirements may seem easy, but it isto briefing to avoid contradictions and omissions; an art. and always take sufficient time to review a project brief before giving it a legal status as the basis for What makes a good brief? a tender procedure.Regardless of the formal status of a brief, a good project brief should be complete and thus cover 186'