Start with the life or business that the building must support

The most expensive mistakes are often not construction mistakes. They are decisions made before anybody asked the right question.

If you have worked through our ten questions, you already have the raw material. You know what problem you are solving, what must remain true and what the whole project can cost. This article shows you how to turn those answers into a one-page brief that your architect and builder can work from, and that you will keep coming back to.

Why a brief, and not just a picture

When starting a new building or alteration project, most of us begin with rooms, finishes and photographs. We see the finished look in our minds before we think about how the space must work.

Builders and designers need something deeper: the outcome, the users and the constraints. A beautiful kitchen can still fail if two people cannot work in it. An office alteration can look complete and still disrupt deliveries, acoustics or customer flow. A new home can meet today’s needs and become awkward the moment a parent ages, a child returns, or work moves home.

Planning is the best time to make mistakes, because it is also the cheapest time to fix them.

What goes on the page

The outcome. Your answer to “What problem are we solving?” in one sentence. What will be easier, safer, more profitable or more enjoyable when the job is done?
The users. Who uses the space now, and who may use it over the next five to ten years? Think about ageing parents, children coming home for a holiday, a home office, a tenant, someone with limited mobility, or a growing team.
The must-haves. The few requirements without which the project is not worth doing. Keep this list short. If everything is a must-have, nothing is.
The useful extras. Things you would like but could remove or postpone if cost or programme demands it. Deciding this now saves difficult conversations later.
The hard constraints. Carry over your answers on budget, dates, approvals and what must remain true. Then add the physical ones: site access, the existing structure and any finance conditions.
The performance brief. How the space must perform, not only how it must look: comfort, daylight, ventilation, acoustics, hot-water demand, storage, maintenance, security, energy use, water use and durability.

A living page, not a form you fill in once

Your one-pager does several jobs:

It is a guided brainstorm: a place to get the ideas out of your head and onto paper.
It is a place to think clearly and separate what matters from what doesn’t.
It becomes the starting point for a conversation with an experienced, practical builder, who will test it against what works on site.

Expect it to change along the way. That is the point.

Date each version, and make note of which one your builder quoted on. Keep it in your build file (more on that in an upcoming article) and go back to it whenever a decision comes up. Once building starts, a change to the brief is a variation, with cost and time attached, so agree on it in writing and update the page.

From then on, the page is your filter. When a change is proposed, ask whether it improves the brief, protects a constraint or merely adds cost. A disciplined “not now” is often a better decision than a rushed “yes”.

The living one-pager for a business premises

Add an operational brief to your one-pager. Write down the business’s opening hours, peak periods, customer and delivery routes, staff facilities, noise-sensitive work, IT and security requirements, fire and health considerations, landlord approvals, phased handovers and the cost of downtime.

Design for maintenance, not only handover day

Ask early how valves, traps, pumps, gutters, waterproofed areas, electrical boards, filters, roof spaces and concealed services will be reached later. The cheapest time to create access is during design.

Before you close walls and ceilings, photograph what’s inside them. Take aTake a clear photo of where pipes and cables run, print it out, and add it to the build file. This extra step may seem a little extreme, but it can save you from an expensive repair during a later addition when you have forgotten any hidden infrastructure five years later.

Questions to ask before you brief your builder

Who will use this space in five or ten years, and what will they need that we don’t need now?
If we had to drop three items from the list, which could we lose without regret?
Where will this space be too hot, too dark, too noisy or too cramped on a February afternoon or a July morning?
When a change is proposed, does it improve the brief, protect a constraint, or only add cost?
What will be difficult to inspect, clean, isolate, repair or replace once this is finished?

For business premises: How will customers, staff and deliveries move through the space, and where do their routes cross?

First the ten questions, then the one-page brief, then the call. When you have a first draft, bring it to us. It will make our first meeting more useful and your quote more accurate.

We consistently get great reviews because we empower our customers with these simple but effective planning tools, so you get the build you wanted.

Download the 10 questions | Call 031 012 5001 | info@pandlbuilders.co.za