Overview
The purpose of a baseline is to define and agree the information contained, extent and scope in an engineering design deliverable. The baseline forms the basis of the expectation and the completeness of a deliverable at a design stage. Every region, industry, domain has an outline plan of work for design stages, and this outline is adopted in the construction sector across the world with an interpretation of the stages in the design lifecycle. However, sometimes there is incomplete understanding or a definite industry practice which suggests the minimum level of information expected from a deliverable at each stage by discipline.
Why is the Baseline relevant?
The understanding of what is required to deliver at each design stage is diverse and different for various clients/ regions (India, Middle East, Europe etc.) across the industry. This understanding also depends on the type of construction contract (i.e. work packages < 80 MH’s, traditional design project, design & build etc.), conditions of agreement and the client relationship. The delivery could be inconsistent and inefficient. It is essential to define and sign-off the design stages with a baseline for an expected quality delivery. Defining a common baseline often defines the expectation, increases the efficiency and enables greater accountability of the design output.
How can this be done?
The first step is to prepare a baseline for all the design work packages and projects, which require minimum or no client interaction. The design stages viz. 30-60-90% are benchmarked. The agreed baseline definition of these stages are streamlined to include other regions and standards. This could be initiated by the design company Associate and verified by Subject Matter Experts of each discipline before it’s adopted for a particular region as a baseline. The baseline templates for each work package can include details such as – design standards and regulations followed, authorizing software and the level of information expected, which will be supported with an exemplar output.
What is the Benefit?
Thus each stage deliverable will be structured under each discipline as identified under the deliverables list for that particular stage. In consensus with company SME’s, the baselines can be made online for use on the work packages or traditional projects. The baseline forms the basis of scope agreement and sign off between the B2B2C and P2P2C. This will ensure robust standardized procedures with minimum or no ambiguity while agreeing the design output.
