E&C uses an open office design to its fullest benefit by encouraging our employees to interact on all projects. Projects are not undertaken by one principal at the exclusion of other principals.

By maintaining internal discussions among the principals, we generate multiple solution options to blend into the best recommendations. Our office has no private design or project offices and no project is secret to one individual so we save time by spending the time of multiple principals early and continuously to limit changes and problems.

On larger and complex projects, we establish a principal review group which reviews the project documents as we progress through the design and construction process. Our project principal and review team are made up of individuals who have gained experience with a variety of investigation and problem-solving assignments and through their employment as design and construction review professionals and commissioning agents. Clients vary and include design build contractors, attorneys, insurance companies, Owners, other design firms and project and construction managers.

Our Office Quality-Maintenance guidelines, the essence of our “quality control”, is more of a reminder to encourage communication, gather documents, confirm communications in writing, schedule regular meetings and coordination between the design team and Owner. We document that specific activities have occurred within the team prior to the Owner reviews and we stress that the Owner is not the designer, contractor or commissioning agent and therefore not responsible for approvals of details, but their input and knowledge is essential to producing a facility that meets the Owner’s desires and budget.
We strive to first understand the Basis of Design, program and Owner’s objectives; establish a decision schedule that parallels the review process; involve those that could change the decision at a later date and reach an agreement as early as possible.
We work as an integrated team, rather than separate design teams and construction teams, to plan the process then follow the plan. If the Basis of Design or program are unclear, we document what we think is expected and ask for a scope review process. Taking the time to clarify the scope will save much more time in execution.

A design narrative was developed with schematic drawings to clarify design intent and for the researchers to understand and verify research sequences within the planned laboratories. While documents were reviewed by E&C’s quality control members, they were also reviewed by Rice’s selected general contractor and sub-contractors for budget pricing and constructability. E&C also conducted multiple site visits to verify as-built documentation was accurate. The early documentation of the design intent, contractor and Owner review ensured a project completed on time, within budget and one that met the researcher’s needs.