Best Practices for Design in Fast-Track Projects

With design, procurement, and construction being executed closely, conflicts arise with the inherently iterative design process because design is now driven by the demands to keep construction flowing smoothly. The designers have to design with incomplete data and are not allowed to go through the loop which involves designing on the basis of assumptions, checking the assumptions later, and revising the design. This results in lack of availability of time to do adequate front end planning, and project execution has to start with a relatively inadequate scope definition (as compared to traditional projects). This often leads to changes in the later stages of the project. The significant overlap between design and construction also requires the design and construction personnel to cooperate early and more closely in the project. The feedback from various stakeholders has to be received in a shorter amount of time in a compressed schedule (RR222-11, p. 2).