Proceedings of the First International Conference on Construction Industry Development: Building the Future Together, Singapore, Vol. 2, pp. 388 – 395. (9-11 December, 1997) 388 Causes, Effects and Indicators of Design and Documentation Deficiency P A TILLEY CSIRO Division of Building, Construction & Engineering Queensland 4173 Australia ABSTRACT The design and documentation process has a major influence on the overall performance and efficiency of construction projects. Designers provide the graphic and written representations which allow contractors and sub- contractors to transform concepts and ideas into physical reality. How well this transformation occurs, depends largely on the quality of the design and documentation provided. Inadequate design and documentation leads directly to delays, rework and variations – contributing to increases in project time and cost. This paper outlines a study being undertaken to investigate both the causes of deficiencies in the design and documentation being provided to Australian contractors and the effects that inadequate design and documentation has on construction process efficiency. The paper outlines the aims of this study and highlights the results of two industry workshops conducted to obtain industry opinion on the issues being investigated. Using the results of two case study projects, approaches to indicate and measure instances of design and documentation deficiency are also proposed. Key Words construction process efficiency; design and documentation deficiency; design fees; indicators; quality Introduction The Australian construction industry has been portrayed by industry analysts as being uncompetitive and inefficient, with current design and documentation quality being of major concern to many parties within the industry (Syam, 1995). As design and documentation quality has a major influence on the overall performance of construction projects (Burati et al, 1992; Lutz et al, 1990; Kirby et al, 1988), any improvement in quality should lead to corresponding improvements in the efficiency of the construction process. Designers provide the graphic and written representations which allow contractors and subcontractors to transform concepts and ideas into physical reality. How effectively and efficiently this transformation occurs, depends largely on the quality of the design and documentation provided. Inadequate design and documentation leads directly to delays, rework and variations – contributing to increases in project time and cost – and indirectly to increases in the workload of project personnel, adversely affecting their ability to perform effectively and efficiently (Tilley and Barton, 1997). Recently, the CSIRO has undertaken an investigation into the causes of design and documentation deficiency and its effect on the efficiency of the construction process. As part of this investigation, two industry workshops were conducted to obtain industry opinion on the main factors affecting design and documentation quality and the most significant effects of design and documentation deficiency. This paper outlines the overall aims of this study and highlights the results of these workshops. Using the results of two case study projects, approaches to indicate and measure instances of design and documentation deficiency are also proposed. Background Anecdotal evidence in Australia suggests that a reduction in project design fees over the past 10–15 years, has had a major bearing on a claimed decrease in the quality of design and documentation, leading to a corresponding reduction in construction process efficiency – indicated by increased levels of contractor requests for information (RFIs), design changes, design coordination problems, variations, rework and increased project administration. According to DeFraites (1989), overall project quality is greatly determined by the level of professional services provided and that the quality of these services is generally determined by how the services are selected and how the