Professional Practice ARCH674

40 years of experience, Bruce Allan, MOAQ, FRAIC

30 January, 2009 The Office Organization - A Partnership or a Single Practitioner? I believe that statistics prove out that the great majority of Architects practice their profession as individual practitioners. This is perhaps taking into account a large number of women who are combining the Home with their profession. Others are simply happier to have full control of their destiny without having to answer to others. I have always appreciated having partners. I am neither expert, nor interested, in some of the regular activities of the practice of architecture. Writing Specifications comes to mind, along with endless construction meetings and martini-lubricated lunches. I have 5 partners who each in his own way, contributes expertise to maintain a lively level of activity and a continuously changing variety of projects. Above all, I can take a holiday!

- Hierarchy Arcop has always been a Partnership at one time a co-partnership hence ARCOP. The idea was to have a loose grouping of several small practices, sharing staff and facilities but executing projects in a semi-independent manner. Reality soon forced the grouping of coalesce into a more rigorously organized form to properly accommodate the large projects that came in great numbers during the late 1950s/early 60s.

WE have 2 tiers of partner, reflecting mostly, years of experience. This is a very flexible arrangement and longevity is not a firm criterion, but an informal guide combined with effectiveness of individual activity. Job-getting, conceptual design, project management, etc. are all key functions and each partner is fits in accordingly. Supporting the Partners are a number of Associates who, for the most part, are Architects, some registered, some not. Others are senior Technicians, plus there is the Accountant and a senior secretary who acts as Office Manager. Theses people are salaried paid a fixed income plus a small share of the gross profits of the firm. There are then a variety of Architects, Technicians, Stagiaires and Students representing a wide range of experience, who are effectively the soldiers.

-Project Organization We organize into teams to carry out projects. Their size is determined by the complexity, the schedule and sometimes, the fee available. Most projects involve 3-5 staff plus a Partner-in-Charge, where stops the buck. Larger projects will include more than one partner, several associates and a significant group of staff. We have 15 involved in the CHUM master-plan. Another dozen are involved with the West Block project. WE try to maintain staff continuity over the life of a project but reality often introduces delays, forcing us to reassign people. It can be frustrating to not have the chance to follow through with your creative thoughts. This, however, is the price of a large practice staff cannot wait around for work to recommence.

-Client Relationships How do you get clients? The classic sources are family and friends and their business associates who might be looking for a design. Usually, starting small and gradually building up experience and a promotable portfolio leads to more substantial opportunities. Competitions sometimes give a big boost to a young architect. Winning the Big One puts your name in lights, but sometimes that big catch becomes a drag. Moshe Safdie had to wait almost a decade after Habitat before he snagged another major built project. His initial success with building block modularity, when repeated in other contexts, discouraged future clients as it was not a cost-effective method of construction. The big lesson about client relationships that must never be forgotten is Do not burn bridges. No matter how difficult the relationship has been, no matter how aggrieved you might feel about inadequate fees or excessive demands, it never hurts to maintain a positive relationship. Circumstances of one project might have created the unpleasantness. Their absence in another might make the old respectful relationship come back to life with great success.

- Hiring and Firing We have learned through sometimes sad experience to be very careful and diligent when selecting and hiring new staff. The act of hiring an employee brings with it responsibilities, both legal and ethical. The act of un-hiring/firing/laying-off/down-sizing is very difficult, both emotionally and financially. There are severance payments to make and these become substantial when there are many years of service. While young

employees are, quite often, rather used to being let go, there is the real concern of a more senior individuals ability to withstand the shock, particularly the very senior ones who have become comfortable and perhaps, complacent. We have had the unpleasant experience of dealing with employees suffering depression a serious and debilitating illness. Architecture is not a low-stress occupation. People who cannot shoulder the even light responsibilities of a junior role simply cannot fit in, and yet we are sympathetic and try to be accommodating. WE carry long-term disability insurance to help with these situations but they are seen as last resorts.

- Job Security You probably now appreciate that there is NO Job Security in the practice of Architecture. I was hired for 2 weeks, 39 years ago. We have very little control over our markets. Apart from doing our best, both professionally and creatively, we cannot influence a clients ability to engage us. If there is no money, there can be no work.

- Joint-ventures You may have heard of Joint-Ventures. These seem to be a particularly Quebec entity. They have been with me most of my professional life. They are a result of the economic slump of the late 60s combined with publically and politically-driven requirements for transparency of engagement a rejection of the old-boy network, of political cronyism a desire by the first Parti-Qubcois government to appear open and egalitarian. Easily over half of the projects that I have seen built have been achieved in consortium with one or several partners.

Many of our out-of-province colleagues, and clients find it difficult to imagine that we can over come our egos and work with others from outside. We have found that it works well, a bit like a well-matured marriage. We share ideas and enjoy cross-pollination of approaches to the art and business of architecture. For our part, it allows us access to potentially difficult, politically-sensitive client sources through the combination of one of our areas of expertise with that of another and or their connections with the job-giver. The best arrangement for a joint venture finds each participant sharing equally the responsibility for each aspect of the project realization from concept to commissioning, thereby allowing every one to claim authorship and pride of creation.

The Business - The right to make money When we were students in the Maoist 60s, it was seen as beneath us to be paid for doing something we enjoyed our work should be a political statement made for the glory of the revolution. But ya gotta eat! Architecture is an Art but it is also a Business and a business must be profitable. Employees must be paid, the mortgage must be paid, your student loans must be paid and when things get tough, a bit of reserve can maintain a persons job a bit longer, perhaps till the next commission arrives.

- The Gentlemens Agreement When I started out there seemed to be a fair amount of work being done under what was called a Gentlemens Agreement. This was entered into a bit like the above subject formal legalities were beneath our exalted status. The trouble with this approach is that it works while everything is happy and lovey-dovey. The moment there are problems, whether with payments, design disputes or whatever there are no fall-backs. Relationships, once very warm, turn sour very easily and there are no mechanisms in place to buffer the problems. It becomes too easy to forget what was agreed memories are very selective.

- Written Contracts There are many ways to write a contract. A simple letter outlining what when and for how much is often all that is needed. When a project is very simple and the amounts of money are small, this may be adequate. We use this mechanism for many of our initial studies where a real project is still distant. However, we have found it VERY advisable to employ one of the standard forms of contract offered by the AAPPQ or the RAIC when entering into a serious, multi thousand dollar engagement. These contracts are well designed to protect both the Architect and the Client and there normally is no major argument on the part of the Owner to use this form. Sometimes there are requests to change the wording or the some of the items of responsibility. We usually take legal advice and sometimes advice from our insurers before accepting different clauses as our levels of liability are quite high already and there is no desire to add to them.

-Advances Often, when working with a new, unknown client we ask for an advance payment perhaps about 10% of the overall fee. In this way we try to protect ourselves from fly-bynight characters. Too often, we have lost fees due to the protracted time between the actual work and billing. Normally we bill for a previous months work but that means there is a delay of at least 30-45 days between spending money on salaries and the issuance of the invoice and there is normally another 30 days (if we are lucky) before we can expect the payment. That makes it almost 3 months between doing work and expecting payment. We can build up a large balance before it becomes evident that there will be no payment. The advance cushions that.

- Disputes The main purpose of a contract is to define what is to be done in the event of a dispute. Our experience has been to avoid the Legal System if at al possible. Negotiation can usually resolve problems there may be a degree of Give-and-Take - but the costs of major legal actions are never recovered. Clients know this and the one time we sued a client, he counter-sued for 10 times what we were claiming. There are always some issues of argument but if both parties are in good faith en bon foie the resolution is usually amicable. When things become very difficult there are techniques of mediation that are now being commonly used. One of the better Mediators here in Montreal is Howie Clavier a graduate of the School.

- Dont burn your bridges No matter how difficult has been an experience I have found that it never pays to destroy the fundamentally friendly relationship which human-beings tend to have. Issues that seem insurmountable under one set of circumstances become unimportant later on and even the most roguish client sometimes has a silver heart. If you are professional and fair, he might well return when you are desperate for work during times like these, and you will be very happy of his patronage.

- Repeat Clients We have enjoyed repeat clients. This is achieved through doing good work showing a proper degree of concern and responsibility but also standing up for our position during difficult times. Clients develop a level of respect for there Architect almost a sense of pride my Architect. An Architect/Client relationship is a bit like a marriage. There is a high level of commitment and respect for each other And over time there usually develops a high level of friendship.

- Dodgy Clients How do you decide if a new client is a bit risky? One must always be optimistic about a new venture but I have notes signs that do seem to be repetitive. Clients who are in a great rush for delivery of ideas, but dodge the key fee discussion, are likely to dodge payment also. There are developers who avoid paying as they have no resources for soft costs essentially you are financing their experiment. Sometimes we accept these constraints but

only if we can see a limited risk. AS mentioned above, with the time lag between incurring the cost of doing the work, billing and payment, a very big balance can build up. I have a certain degree of suspicion when I meet someone with expensive shirts, jewelry and a flashy car. If he can afford those trappings he may not have anything spare to pay me

-The Rewards In 39 years of practice, I can say I have never been bored. There have been many frustrations but the times when a project is actually finished and comes fully alive is fantastic and worth the struggle. In my experience, about 1 in 10 projects actually advances from early conceptual stage and many founder, even at very advanced stages, even while under construction. Quite often the rendering or model is the most fulfilling point of the project. Very few architects get rich, unless they start with a fortune. The income is very good, but unless you can find someone to pay you for every hour you work and pay well, the costs of operation will absorb most of your fees. However, life is your teacher and living, experiences and exploration are all part of your work.

Enjoy it. Bruce Allan FRAIC OAQ OAA Senior Partner, The Arcop Group