Roles and Responsibilities of an Architect

Architect is involved in the planning and drawing of this design, as well as overseeing its construction. This involves taking into consideration not only environmental and economic needs, but also the concerns of the construction team, which include materials and safety. The design has to be functional, thus an architect needs to have knowledge of the builder’s requirements, such as which planning and building codes the construction must abide by. Ultimately the employer wants a design that is going to be most economically effective for them, giving the architect a further task to draw upon their knowledge to meet these requirements. Quite a feat to take on.

Role in the process of manufacture

There are stages which every construction must go through, starting with the design and ending with the finished building, and the architect is involved the whole way through. The planning stages are obviously when the bulk of their input is needed, and many attempts are made until the final design is produced. Throughout this time, the architect will liaise with you, the client, in order to translate their designs and receive feedback.

During this time the architect will have to ensure that appropriate building regulations, for example planning permission or whether the building is a certain listed grade, have been approved and are in place. The architect also needs to take into consideration environmental factors when designing, and has to have a great knowledge of building appliances and materials in order to produce any designs.

Once a detailed design has been produced a contractor is employed to carry out the building works. Some larger architectural firms may have a construction team that works alongside them who will work with the architect during this part of the process. Otherwise, the architect will usually have previously worked with contractors who they can recommend, or will work alongside you in order to find the appropriate contractor to use.

A contractor is someone who carries out work on a particular site. Different contractors will be used for different areas of work, which is why a construction team that oversees them all is an especially useful tool. Changes can be made throughout the whole construction process; for example, when construction is taken place and it appears as though a more effective method could be used, the architect will produce revised drawings and then these will be used to continue with the work.

This is why it is essential that the architect is involved in every stage of the production as well. When this occurs a Construction Manager Change Order (CMCO) is issued along with the drawings in order to allow the changes to be made.