BHA ARCHITECTURAL MANUAL _ PART 2 _ OVERVIEW OF ARCHITECT'S WORK

 2.0    OVERVIEW OF ARCHITECTURAL WORK 

 2.1    DUTIES OF ARCHITECTS

Architectural work covers a number tasks.   A short list of work to be done by architects [based on Lembaga Arkitek Malaysia | LAM Basic Services] are:

1.   .SD   SCHEMATIC DESIGN

• Discuss with Client and stakeholders [all involved in the project] to determine the project’s development objectives and requirements,
• Prepare a preliminary design proposal to interpret and/or formulate the project’s brief/terms of reference based on information from the Client,
• Lead the coordination with consultant Mechanical & Electrical and Civil & Structural Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, and associated professionals such as Property Consultants, Land Surveyors and Town Planners, to ensure the preliminary design proposal meet the Client’s requirements and,
• Upon the Client’s approval of the preliminary design proposal and instruction, to prepare and submit schematic design drawings to the local authority for planning approval [Kebenaran Merancang or equivalent] based on the specific Local Authorities requirements. 
• If any kind of appeal is required for the planning approval, then to check with the Local Authorities on the possibilities of the appeal to be approved before submission. Pre-council or pre-submission checks with the Local Authorities will be done prior to the formal submission.

2.   .DD   DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

• Upon issuance of the planning approval [Kebenaran Merancang or equivalent] by the local authority, to review the requirements set in the planning approval,
• Lead the coordination with consultant Mechanical & Electrical and Civil & Structural Engineers and associated professionals such as Land Surveyors and Town Planners, in order to comply with the requirements set in the planning approval,
• Review the current/coordinated and authorities’ compliant design against the Client’s project’s brief/terms of reference including cost and time implications,
• Upon instruction from the Client, to prepare and submit working drawings to various authorities for building plans approval [based on the specific Local Authorities requirements and, pre-council or pre-submission checks with the Local Authorities will be done prior to the formal submission] and,
• Assist in the liaisons with the relevant authorities to pursue the approval of the various building plans submissions.

3.   .CD   CONTRACT DOCUMENTATION

• Upon instruction from the Client, to prepare working details and construction drawings for the architectural works,
• Finalise detailed coordination with consultant Mechanical & Electrical and Civil & Structural Engineers in order to comply with the requirements and conditions set by the authorities in the Building Plans approval against the Client’s project’s brief/terms of reference,
• Scrutinise/review Mechanical & Electrical and Civil & Structural Engineers drawings and documentation to ensure they are coordinated with Architectural design,
• Assist the consultant Quantity Surveyor in the preparation of tender documentation and bill of quantities or costing exercises of similar nature,
• Review the Tender Document prepared by the Quantity Surveyor to ensure completeness and conformity with the Architectural design and the Client’s project’s brief/terms of reference, 
• Review Project Cost and Schedule prior to the Calling of Tender against the Clients’ requirements and,
• Coordinate the preparation of documentation for constructional purposes by all consultants.

4.   .CA   CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION

• Undertake periodic inspections of the construction, 
• Monitor the construction work to ensure compliance with specifications and the Clients’ requirements via site visits, technical meetings and informal discussions, 
• Prepare additional details, drawings and instructions, as and when required, and 
• Verify stages of work and certification for progress of work

5.   .AD   PLANNING, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE,

      INTERIOR DESIGN AND RELATED SERVICES

• Town planning, landscape architecture, interior design and other related services can complement the architectural services as additional services over and above the basic services described above. The scope of work for these additional services shall be based on the basic scope of services prepared by the relevant professional bodies. 

Learning from Bukit Setiawangsa Slope Failure

SLOPE FAILURE AT Jalan Bukit Setiawangsa
TAMAN SETIAWANGSA KUALA LUMPUR
29 December 2012

Firstly I wish to record my heartfelt sympathy to the affected parties which comprise households and businesses within the vicinity of Jalan Bukit Setiawangsa.  Quite a number of friends and acquaintances had to move from their homes and business due to the tragedy.   
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The engineered slope which has been standing tall - at 10 - 11 berms totalling over 50m high - since the early 1990s failed quite dramatically about 1000pm on Friday, 28 December 2012.  When I passed that area about then the bottom-most of what left of that section of the concrete wall, in the picture above, was still moving towards the road and we had to drive through the detour in front of the shops.  Thank you to the guards there who had quickly arranged cones to divert the traffic.
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As of 30 January 2013, the developer has built gabion walls up to about 6 stacks [ about 6m high perhaps ] over the 4-lane road [ 2-lane dual carriageway with a median strip ] and being filled up with gravel and stones over a stretch of about 100m, as a temporary measure I have been advised, until a permanent solution is derived.   On top of the hill, the collapsed house has been demolished and the others appeared to being repaired and the exposed slope being covered with gunite, if I am not mistaken, which is a mixture of cement and sand with light-gauge steel  mesh.   Meantime, the road is closed indefinitely.
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What are the lessons I learnt from this tragedy:

1. REMEMBER MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE

Despite the numerous high-tech facilities available in Malaysia and having a pool of some of the smartest and experienced professionals, Malaysia-incorporated is still NOT ready for the GOOD MAINTENANCE IS ESSENTIAL MINDSET.   We are yet to sink it into our minds that to have facilities in good conditions we have to maintain them properly without exception.

From my understanding of the so-called engineered slope / retaining wall systems - and a number of articles in the newspaper quoting a number of geotech experts confirmed my understanding - the wall was designed with a periodical maintenance built into the life of the wall system.   

Hence, if maintained properly, the engineered slope should be standing there forever, God willing.

Until such time that we as a society is ready to the GOOD MAINTENANCE CULTURE, perhaps engineers and architects should design structures and buildings which require no maintenance and with no safety issues.

2. BEWARE OF CHEAP NOW BUT EXPENSIVE LATER SOLUTIONS

It probably was the cheapest option to construct the retaining wall with the engineered slope concept but somehow somebody forgot to evaluate the lifecycle cost of the engineered wall which required 6-monthly inspections and periodical maintenance cost for the whole of its service life.  It could probably be that had somebody calculated the costs of all the retaining walls options taking into account the actual lifecycle cost i.e. construction and maintenance cost over the the service life of the slope - like until the end of the world!, the engineered slope might not have been the best and cost effective option then.

We can only guess but it is probable that after a few years upon completion of the wall, and in this case over 20 years assuming it was built in 1992 as reported, just about everybody forgot about the need to maintain the wall periodically or the party which is supposed to maintain it found out that the cost of maintenance and/or repairs are very expensive and thus may have skipped the regular maintenance schedule.  Which may end up now as a cheap upfront cost solution but with an expensive total lifecycle cost.

3.  PROVIDE THE BEST SOLUTIONS FOR THE EVENTUAL USERS AND NOT JUST WHATS BEST FOR THE PAYMASTERS

Consultants, including me unfortunately, sometimes were too eager to please clients in order to land the lucrative and elusive professional fees and in this eagerness might have offered solutions which looked smart and cost effective then but they end up as nightmares to the maintenance team later or the eventual users.  In the eagerness to achieve max profits for our paymasters consultants may opt for solutions which may cost more to maintain later or, God forbid, end up with solutions which may risk or endanger lives of the eventual users.  We consultants should remember the amanah or trust put on our shoulders to build proper homes and buildings that should by right outlast us and many generations after us.

We can revisit the works of the Greeks and Romans to humble us consultants and admire how they had managed to keep their buildings upright and some in working order over the millennia [ from 1000BC etc ] with only low technology at hand - and basically with no maintenance [ granted there were restorations, conservations etc ].   Basically the Greeks and then the Romans clearly showed us that when done with a lot of thought given to and care put into them, structures and buildings could last quite a long time and maintained in good condition.   In comparison, our buildings generally last 5 to 10 years before things go wrong and that despite the high tech that we have today  [ or worst, they fail after the end of the defects liability period which may be between 1 to 3 years depending on the contract! ].   The ready-to-wear and disposable item concept are not suitable for the construction industry as buildings lifecycles are generally in decades.

Building consultants, I am but sharing this reminder to myself, should use the latest technologies to improve the lives of people now and in the long run.   Experiments must be done but we should keep experiments in laboratories most of the times and not experiment on somebody else's lives, livelihoods and properties.

MORE CONTRACT AND LEGAL EXPOSURES TO STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE

I had a chat on contract and legal matters in building works with a number of soon-to-be graduates of architecture and some not-so-fresh graduates.   Mostly, they were waiting to enroll for their 5th year in a number of universities after completing 4th year a couple of months ago and a number have been working a few years.

What surprised me after the chat was the level of their comprehension on contractual matters.   I did not expect them to understand or even know the details of all contract details – actually quite a number of graduates and registered architects cannot say they understand the contract well – but I had expected them to know the basic matters concerning building contract and the uniform building by-law [UBBL].  

Afterall, an architect cannot actually design a habitable building, in accordance with the laws in Malaysia, without understanding the UBBL requirements - that is apart from understanding building construction methods - and other governing laws.   Furthermore, how can architects manage a construction contract if they do not understand the basics of a contract?   And what about design coordination meetings – a sit down with the engineers, contractors and QS to look at minutes of previous meetings?   I found out a number of these coordination meetings did not involve looking to coordinate drawings of the various disciplines; rarely plans were opened and gawk at in these meetings.

If the universities have been emphasising on the laws and contracts on their architectural students as well as the importance of being the chief designer cum coordinator cum the team leader, I am yet to see the results; may be the ones I had met were the exceptions rather than the norm students.  

But if the universities have been concentrating on design at the expense of the real world needs, we hope something would be done soon.   A balance of theories and the practical aspects of architecture need to be achieved.   At least before the graduates were let loose into the market, they should have the basic exposures to know that when they design, there are rules and regulations to be dealt with on top of the project brief.   And when they manage a construction work, they knew that the reference in managing the contract is the contract documents which include among others, the terms of the contract, specifications and drawings - which normally comprises architectural, civil & structural and mechanical & electrical drawings – and not just refer to architects drawings.   The architect must lead.

Otherwise, I am sure that I would still be meeting with soon-to-graduate and fresh architectural graduates who drew blank faces when asked why their designs did not meet the governing laws of Malaysia or why they managed the building contracts on the contrary to the provisions of the contract documents.   Or worst, were surprised that the building turned out to be different from their design because actually the structural engineers had designed the building for them since the structures would be constructed first and architects drawings did not match the engineers, hmmm...

BHA FAMILY TRIP 2011 _ Bandung, Indonesia

2011, June 2 - 5 _ Jakarta - Bandung

For a project that we are currently undertaking we need to study what makes factory outlets work and how to manage the abundant natural resources God has created for us for a sustainable lifestyle.

Since quite a number of us had to go for the study trip, we turned the trip into a BHA Family Trip affair.
A bus load of us made the trip to Bandung via Jakarta.   KL - Jakarta via Garuda Airlines and by bus to Bandung.   

The trip turned out to be an eye opener how low tech solutions made architecture very pleasant [ and how cheap clothing were in Bandung factory outlets compared with KL! ].


CONTEMPORARY SHOPPING

Bandung do have the latest Shopping Centres in Paris van Java and CiWalk [Cihampelas Walk] Mall and a few others but the houses turned into shops were more interesting.
CiWalk Mall is a street mall which is good to emulate - with its interesting individual formed shops and the heavily landscaped malls.  

THEMATIC RESTAURANT _ KAMPUNG DAUN

Kampung Daun, a sprawling restaurant set along a forest stream next to granite hillside, was a dream.   The setting was surreal.   Might look for a natural setting here in Malaysia to turn into something like that.   It would be great!

Kampung Daun Restaurant

CULTURAL SHOW - SAUNG PAK UDJO

The trip to Saung Pak Udjo to watch a cultural show with the main feature on an Angklung orchestra was enlightening.   Preserving and presenting the local cultural heritage with all artists trained from the whole of the village [ I was made to believe as an effort to enable them to have something worthwhile to do, beats leaving them to turn into Mat Lepaks or Mat Rempits, I am sure ].

It was a noble cause and looked like a commercially rewarding venture. 

We could learn a trick or two from the cultural show, the architectural set up is basic but very vernacular and interestingly done.   The show is a must see.  

Sukajadi Hotel, Bandung

Kampung Daun, Bandung

Saung Pak Udjo

CULTURAL SHOW

The Angklung + Traditional Percussions Band

The Angklung Orchestra

Badrul Hisham Architect / June 2011

BHA Family Trip 2009 + Architectural Discourse _ Sg Klah, Perak

The team needed a short discourse session to rejuvenate their architectural senses.   So we organised a weekend discourse programme on 14-15 Nov 2009 in Felda Residence, Sg Klah Hotsprings with Ar Hj Ahmad Fadzil Mohamed and Ar Hj Nasharuddin Abdul Majid to give short talks on architectural practice.  

Ar Hj Ahmad Fadzil and Ar Hj Nasharuddin talks were the very refresher the team needed.   We hope to have the discourse sessions once in a while and next time hopefully we can invite other offices to join in these kind of sessions, God willing, inshaAllah.

Apart from the semi-serious talks that we had, we also organised games for the whole family.

The Family

The Team

Badrul Hisham Architect / Nov 2009

BHA Family Trip 2008 _ Cameron Highlands

We checked into Equatorial Cameron Highlands  20-22 December 2008 for a well deserved break from work.

It was a cool weekend to relieve stressed our muscles and mind.    But the period which was school holidays did not actually fully refreshed us all since the roads and attractions were a bit jammed-packed.

Despite the busy streets, we had a quite good break.

BHA Family 2008 @ Equatorial Cameron Highlands

Boh Tea - A Nice Piece of Work

Badrul Hisham Architect / Dec 2008

BHA Family Trip 2007 _ Pangkor Beach Resort

We made every effort possible that BHA team studies relevant examples before we design and document work we undertook.

This was the case when we made our Family Trip in 01-02 April 2007 into a Study Tour for our Felda Residence Resort, Tanjung Leman / Mersing, Johor project.

The Pangkor Beach Resort was of similar  concept to our beach-side proposal - isolated from mainstream infrastructure & tourist interests - and it had to be an attraction by itself.

Pulau Pangkor Island Beach Resort

Badrul Hisham Architect / April 2007