Paper Example on Critical Appraisal of Planning

The client has identified and purchased land, which is approximately 300km from the old offices. 300km is a long distance, and this might affect business operations. The client's company has been operating for a given amount of time, and customers were used to accessing it from its old location (Kerzner, 2003, 15). Changing the location of the business might give competitors a chance to take over the company's clients because some clients will opt to go to other companies that are nearby. On the other hand, purchasing a piece of land is cheaper than leasing because now the company will have a permanent location (Dvir et al., 2003, 90). The planning permission is yet issued to the architect on behalf of the client. The delay is an issue of concern because the client has two years only to operate in the old company's location. Two years might not be enough to complete the new company, and therefore the client should consider applying for a lease extension.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

A critical appraisal of site risks

The newly purchased site's location is near a river. The area is a significant risk that the client needs to assess. The risk depends on the distance between the river and the site because a building can face demolition if it is too close to a river (Zou, 2006, 51). There is no information on the reason behind the demolishing of the industrial chemical manufacturing complex, and this is a cause of concern. The building might have faced demolition because it had been built on riparian land, and therefore making another construction on the same site would mean that it will eventually get demolished. The other risk associated with the site is the waste material generated from the demolition (Leung et al., 1998, 625). The company previously located on the site was a chemical manufacturing unit, and this means that the waste generated from the demolition must have had some chemical elements. The chemical substances pose a risk to the staff who will be working in the new unit because some of the features linger in the atmosphere for a long time. The advice to the client would be for him to wait for a short while until the site is free from any chemical elements. The client needs to engage health officers who will aid in assessing the area.

A critical appraisal on soft landings

The client needs to assess all the elements to ensure a soft landing. A soft landing is a strategy that ensures a smooth transition from construction to occupation (Way and Bordass, 2005, 355). The stakeholders involved in the construction process need to put the change into consideration throughout the whole process. The client needs to be aware of every activity involved in construction for him to be sure of the accomplishment of a soft landing. A soft landing ensures maximum output from the workers because it prevents time wastage as workers try to adjust to the new environment (Gana et al., 2018, 180). When the transition is smooth, issues of construction will not carry on to the occupation of workers, and so their performance will be at the optimum. The client needs are advised on being highly involved in the whole construction process and overlook every activity to ensure the achievement of soft landings.

A critical appraisal of Sustainability

Sustainability is a significant factor that needs consideration before the initiation of any construction project. The general definition of sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present generations without preventing future generations from meeting their needs (Valdez-Vasquez and Klotz, 2012, 85). In the construction of the new building, sustainability is a significant issue because the site's location is near a river. This report advises the client on being keen on this issue and ensures that the river is maintained to enhance sustainability (Khalfan, 2006, 50). If the company takes part in taking care of the river, many people will get attracted to the company, and it will gain a competitive ability. Some of the activities that the company can undertake to maintain the river are participating and initiating cleanup activities.

A critical appraisal of the ethical considerations

Ethical considerations entail how the whole business entity will be relating to the neighboring communities. The primary ethical considerations that need review are respect and beneficence. For two groups to interrelate and interact well, there needs to a high upholding of respect by the two parties. Respect entails acknowledging the rights of the other person and avoid doing activities that will violate those rights. The client needs to know that he is going to anew locale with new people. The new community is different from his old neighbors, and the report, therefore, advises the client on taking time to learn and interact with the new community and learn what they prefer and what violates their rights (Gower, 2017, 108). Beneficence is an ethical consideration that aims at promoting good and avoidance of harm. The report advises the client on assessing his operations to ensure that the people living close to the proposed new company do not get harmed by any means. Harm can come from loud noise or poorly disposed waste from the company. The client and stakeholders of the company need to ensure that the company has a maximum beneficial impact on the neighboring community. Those people might end up being the significant clients of the company, and they should, therefore, be treated right.

Pre-contract cost control

Pre-contract cost control is the process that ensures that the total sum of the contract does not exceed the budget of the client. The client has won full quantity surveying for the new project, and this will help in saving his cost (Ashworth, 2008, 75). The insurance company hosts 1,000 staff, and so the new offices need to be big enough to accommodate the population. The client has hired an architect who will make the designs of the new building. Besides the architect, the client will need other workers like constructors, engineers, electricians, or plumbers. The human resources named are to the fact that the building will need an electric and water connection before its occupation (Cunningham 2015, 98). The construction process will also need raw materials for construction. Some of them include sand, cement, stones, wood, glass, paint, and water. All these require a budget, and the client needs to be aware of this fact. Upon completion of the building, the client will need an interior designer who will design the offices in the best way possible. The project is an insurance company, and therefore it needs the incorporation of professional designs.

The report advises the client on taking quality time to make a realistic budget for the amount of money he wishes to spend on the project. The client can try reducing the cost by borrowing resources from his old offices. The old offices will seize operation in two years, and the proposed new offices will be operational by then. He can, therefore, use the interiors and furniture of the old offices in the new one. The move will help in saving his cost and reducing his budget. He can opt to upgrade the interiors and furniture, instead of purchasing new ones. In every project, one should ensure that the operations are within the budget because going overboard might affect the functions of the business because he might end up using the company's savings (Cunningham 2017, 34). The report advises the client on taking economic actions and avoid unplanned expenses. However, he should not economize extremely because this might affect the quality of the new offices. He needs to strike a balance between his budget and the quality of the new offices. The balance will help him in achieving pre-contract cost control, which is necessary for every project.

Value and risk management

Value management ensures that a client's needs are met at the lowest cost. All ideal facilities and functions also need accomplishment at a low price. The achievement of value management is through the identification of design aspects concerning the cost of construction and consideration of benefits that are grown in the whole cycle of building (Kelly et al., 2014, 21). Timely design stage value management gives a good platform for attaining of capital cost lessening. Value management of a construction project entails several activities. These include first, the development of communication towards the achievement of goals set for the project. Secondly, the identification of solutions with a value for money and save on costs and, at the same time, maintaining the scope of work. The third activity is the promotion of innovations that will help in achieving the client's requirements. Fourthly, the improvement of sustainability and optimizing resources without conceding quality, identifying reductions of scope and savings, and getting rid of pointless expenditures to ensure that the project is within the client's budget (Oke and Aigbavboa, 2017, 79). The client is advised on taking note of the activities that will ensure value management and make sure that the construction team adheres to the highlighted workshops. Value management is necessary for every project because it will ensure the meeting of the client's needs at the lowest possible cost.

Risk management is another aspect that needs consideration in every project. Risk management entails five processes, which include: identification of the risk, analysis, evaluation of the risk, risk treatment, and monitoring and reviewing of the risk (Burnaby and Hass, 2009, 541). The first step, which is the identification of the risk entails pointing out the potential dangers that might affect the business. Such risks are environmental, legal, and regulatory or market risks. After identification of the potential risks, step two proceeds, which is risk analysis. This step entails determining the scope of the risk and acknowledging the link between organizational factors and the risk. The third step entails the evaluation and ranking of the risk. Risks need scale and prioritizing depending on their severity. Risks that might cause disastrous loss to the company need the priority when compared to risks that may result in an absolute inconvenience to the company. The fourth step is the treatment of the risk. This step entails the elimination of the risk by seeking solutions to those risks. The final stage entails the monitoring and reviewing of the risk. Some risks, like the market and environmental, are not eliminated, and therefore they need consistent monitoring (Mack et al., 2006, 369). Monitoring helps in tracking any changes that may arise in the risk. The report advises the cis advised to take note of all the steps involved in risk management because this will help him in tackling any kind of risk that may arise within the operation of his company.