Stage 1 - Preparation & Briefing stage for building projects

The RIBA Plan of Work is published by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and sets out the key stages of a building project.

Architects and construction professionals use RIBA work stages to denote stage payments and identify team members tasked with different responsibilities.

The RIBA Plan of Works is split into 8 key stages.

It is important to clearly specify what activities fall within which stage, and what level of detail is required in order to prevent any confusion.

Stage 1 - Preparation & Briefing

The preparation and briefing form an important stage of the construction project.

It sets out the key requirements for the development and establishes the client's aspirations.

Stage 1 involves developing the information that the design team will need to commence the design process at Stage 2.

Feasibility Studies may be required to establish the full range of briefing considerations.

This is a good way to demonstrate the spatial requirements can be accommodated on the site.

Feasibility Studies include the following:

• Looking at the site constraints
• Establishing special relationships with neighbouring buildings
• Legislative constraints
• Planning history
• Other constraints such as designated land, flood risk etc.

In some instances, several options might be prepared at the feasibility stage.

The fundamental role of the feasibility study is to help determine the project brief and to tease out decisions that will be required on certain topics, but they are not part of the design process itself.

As there is a direct correlation between cost and a building’s area, the Spatial Requirements do need to be tested against the Project Budget.

For property developers, this stage will assist in their financial due diligence and help calculate the GDV of a given site and inform the development ability of the site.