CIC Cascade

12 January 2007

1. DQI used on 700 projects
2. The National Assembly for Wales use of the DQI
3. DQI facilitators add value to projects
4. DQI for Schools
5. DQI in the Big Apple
6. The British Library Centre for Conservation use of the DQI
7. Events

1. DQI used on 700 projects

The Design Quality Indicator (DQI) is a tool to assess the design quality of buildings; it is available online at www.dqi.org.uk. Over 700 projects have registered with the online tool since the launch of the DQI in 2002.

The DQI tool is being used throughout the project life cycle, from inception through design and once buildings are in use. In 2005 the Construction Industry Council launched an advancement of the tool to assist with briefing called Fundamental, Added Value, Excellence (FAVE). FAVE helps users and clients establish their aspirations for a project, against which they can later score design solutions.

Approximately 75% of projects using the DQI are from the public sector and just under half of these projects are new and refurbished schools. The use on Schools led to the development of a specific toolkit for use in DQI for Schools.

The DQI is also being used on office buildings, other education projects, cultural buildings, civic buildings and increasingly on housing, an area which CIC is hoping do develop further over the coming year. CIC is also interested in developing the way the tool is used in custodial services and offices.

The DQI is a flexible toolkit which can be applied in a number of ways; to help clients get the most from using the tool CIC has developed a register of DQI facilitators. There are 74 construction professionals and clients on the register who have all been trained in applying the DQI.

A typical DQI assessment is applied in a workshop environment involving 5 representatives from the project supply side (including the design team and contractors) and 3-8 users of the building, a client and a facilities manager.

The projects using the DQI are located all round the UK, with the most registered projects in South East England, Yorkshire, East Midlands and Northern Ireland . It is also encouraging, for a British idea, that just around 7% of the projects using the DQI are from outside the UK .

For more information on the DQI see www.dqi.org.uk, or contact the DQI team at CIC on 020 7399 7424 or email dqi@cic.org.uk.

Top

2. The National Assembly for Wales use of the DQI

The National Assembly for Wales was completed in early 2006 and in May 2006 the building was tested with the in-use version of the DQI to evaluate whether or not original aspirations and standards for the project had been met. Schal, the Project Managers, appointed a DQI facilitator to run the session as part of a broader lessons learnt away day. For further information please visit www.dqi.org.uk/naw

Top

3. DQI facilitators add value to projects

There is considerable evidence illustrating that using a DQI facilitator not only helps with the successful application of the DQI in a project but also helps to ensure that the knowledge gained from using the tool is acted upon by the project team. CIC strongly recommends the use of trained DQI facilitators to ensure that quality, stakeholder engagement and collaborate working are at the fore of the process.

The current DQI Facilitator register has 74 construction professionals and clients all of whom have undertaken training and ability assessed. To view the current register, please visit www.dqi.org.uk/needfacilitator.

Following feedback CIC is currently refining the training process for facilitators to provide an even more comprehensive programme. If you would like to know more about the Facilitator training programme for 2007 or are interested in using a DQI facilitator please visit www.dqi.org.uk/facilitator or contact the DQI team on 020 7399 7424 or dqi@cic.org.uk

Some testimonials from clients on how the DQI and DQI facilitators add value:

John McConnell of North Down and Ards Institute said:

“Our end users found the process to be most helpful in putting across their requirements. They felt that notice was being taken of their needs and that the building was not being designed by people who would normally not know their working requirements.

Our DQI facilitator was a great help in explaining all the different aspects of the process and why they were necessary. We have completed 2 DQI sessions, both of which helped enormously in developing our scheme designs.”

Robin Matthews of Stanley Bragg Partnership said:

“On the most recently completed project our facilitator played an invaluable part in explaining the DQI process and presenting the whole subject in a way that could be understood by all participants. Once the process had been so thoughtfully explained under the facilitator’s guidance, the workshops developed into relaxed and enjoyable sessions that promoted good communication between parties and focused people’s attention on quality issues.

Having now run projects through the DQI process, we can see the positive aspects of using a skilled DQI facilitator to ‘steer’ the workshops and encourage participation by all concerned.”

David Mullins of Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick said:

“The DQI at Warwick was excellently facilitated and was an exciting and very productive experience for the participants. It involved looking back at our existing building and also forward to our new building and we were able to bring together a diverse set of representatives of users of the existing building.

The process, which would not have worked at all without expert facilitation, resulted in a very clear and shared understanding of the aspiration for the new building and lessons to be learned from the existing building. The involvement of the design team for the new building enabled them to rapidly reach an understanding of the specification we wished to achieve and, very importantly, the subjective aspects that linked the quality of the environment to the brand, marketing and success of Warwick Manufacturing Group. I don’t think that such an understanding could be elicited without a facilitated DQI process.”

Ailsa Taylor of Turner and Townsend Group said:

"In my recent experience with the DQI I have found the role of the facilitator to be invaluable in providing a simple and straight forward brief for users new to the tool, explaining the purpose of the tool to a diverse audience, and clarifying the objectives and benefits of undertaking several DQI sessions throughout the design and construction process.

The facilitator actively encouraged everyone to participate in discussion and debate, all the while, developing individuals understanding of the various elements of the tool. As a third party to the project, the facilitator was able to prevent strong personalities from dominating, encouraging stakeholder involvement in the purest sense.

Our facilitator provided a useful report following each of the sessions which captured key points from user group conversations, and included graphics to help participants visualise how well the design is achieving their aspirations as the project progresses.

On the basis of this extremely positive experience, I would not hesitate to recommend the use of facilitated DQI sessions to clients and their user groups on future projects."

Top

4. DQI for Schools

The DQI for Schools was launched in partnership with the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in December 2005.

The DQI for Schools is very similar to the generic DQI tool but with greater emphasis on areas which are specific to the needs of schools such as the uses of spaces, the buildings relationship to the community and the buildings grounds. The DQI for Schools is applied in the same way as the DQI tool and DQI facilitators, who have experience in the schools sector can facilitate use of the tool.

The tool has now been used on nearly 150 new and refurbished school buildings. These have mainly been secondary schools that are being upgraded and refurbished through the Government’s Building Schools for the Future initiative. However with the recently announced primary programme we are seeing the tool being used throughout the sector.

CIC is excited by such a comprehensive use of the DQI approach in school design. With the varied user community of most schools the DQI for Schools can really help people work together to achieve the best building they can.

Following the successful adaptation of the DQI by the schools sector CIC is looking to work with other building types over the coming year to increase the family of DQI tools.

More information on the DQI for Schools can be found at www.dqi.org.uk/schools, or contact the DQI team at CIC on 020 7399 7424 or email dqi@cic.org.uk.

Top

5. DQI in the Big Apple

The DQI is being applied to US$320 million worth of public building projects in New York City, by New York City ’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC).

Commissioner David Burney, head of the DDC, became aware of the DQI tool after he was contacted by DQI facilitator Goran Lukic and his colleagues who thought the tool would help them involve stakeholders and deliver better design quality in their current projects.

Goran Lukic trained as a DQI facilitator in April 2006 and is the first person from outside the UK on the register of DQI facilitators.

Initially the DDC applied the tool to 35 projects from police stations, firehouses, libraries, clinics, and museums over summer 2006. To help with the workload DDC also called on Paul Mercer of Tangram Architects, London to help apply the DQI to the projects in a relatively short space of time.

Commissioner David Burney said:

“ “Design and Construction Excellence in Public Works” is a stated goal of the Bloomberg administration. But how do we define success in achieving that goal, when “design quality” can be a subjective value? The Construction Industry Council’s “Design Quality Indicator” provides a sound methodology for measuring design quality. With DQI we will have a metric by which we can monitor our progress during design, and gather valuable feedback on our completed projects.”

Goran Lukic, DQI facilitator said:

“The opportunity to be part of the DQI rollout into the United States is an honor for me. From the first time I became acquainted with the DQI, I understood the benefits that it could bring to our built environment, and subsequently, society itself. That the DDC has chosen to trail blaze this new technology is a testament to New York City ’s foresight in the value of good design and a validation of the CIC ’s quality of product.”

Paul Mercer, Partner Tangram Architects and DQI facilitator said:

“New York City ’s DDC has a considerable programme of public projects and they seemed to welcome the introduction of DQIs to complement their existing design management systems. Although we assessed a wide range of proposals across the programme, the DQI tool stood up to the onslaught well and the website especially coped with considerable data entry and retrieval. Processes and systems across the pond probably have more similarities than differences and DQI may well be a new term to look out for in the future in US capital procurement.”

Graham Watts, CIC Chief Executive said:

“Soon after we started developing the DQI in the late 1990’s it became apparent that the work we were doing to create a methodology for measuring design quality was unique. Being web-based the tool is already available to users anywhere in the world and though we have never promoted it outside the UK it has been tentatively used by a small number of clients in Europe and elsewhere. We were delighted to receive Goran’s application to train as a facilitator and that he and his colleagues are pioneering the process in the USA . Adoption by New York City represents a very exciting step for the DQI and we are looking forward to working with Goran and his colleagues to adapt the process to encompass American culture.”

For more information about use of the DQI in the USA please contract the DQI team at CIC on 020 7399 7424 or email dqi@cic.org.uk.

Top

6. The British Library Centre for Conservation use of the DQI

In September 2005, following a previous DQI assessment at Strategic Briefing stage, the winning design for the British Library Centre for Conservation was tested using the Mid-Design version of the DQI. The decision to use the DQI was once again driven by Drivers Jonas, the Project Managers, who helped develop the initial brief with the British Library, supported by Davis Langdon. For further information please visit www.dqi.org.uk/blcc

7. Events

The events page of the CIC website is frequently updated visit the events page for details.

Top