Royal Institute of British Architects - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Prior to the latest release, RIBA had released a plan of work in 2007 which was a good standard guide at the time. As times and circumstances change, RIBA has updated the standards by changing the grouping of the stages and incorporating some aspects that the British government considers important such as planning policies, health and safety policies, alternative procurement routes and many other factors. This paper discusses these issues showing how they have been integrated into the various stages in the plan of work and the different tasks that take place at each stage.

The RIBA plan of work is prepared by the Royal Institute of British Architects in conjunction with other stakeholders to provide a regulatory framework for practitioners in the building and construction industry (Cross, 2013). The RIBA plan of work is widely used in the UK as the official guideline and directive indicating the best practices in the industry (Farrelly, 2014). The plan of work has been extremely efficient such that it has been benchmarked by numerous countries worldwide, modeling their building and construction industry regulatory framework on RIBA’s. RIBA has continued to update its plan of work since 1963 as times and circumstances change (Hopkirk, 2014).

The latest plan of work was prepared in 2013 and represented a paradigm shift from the previous one prepared in 2007. The stages of work have essentially remained the same only that they have been categorized and labeled differently (Architecture.com, 2014). Instead of the eleven stages that were explicated by the tasks to be conducted, the new plan of work has eight stages and eight task bars under each stage indicating the tasks to be conducted. Most importantly, however, the latest version of the RIBA plan of work has addressed areas that had not been taken into consideration by the other plans such as alternative procurement routes, town planning functions and sustainability issues (Ostime, 2013).

The RIBA plan of work 2013 places emphasis on sustainability issues because the UK government intends to promote efficient energy use and conservation of the environment going forward. ...Download file to see next pages Read More