Financial Constraint

Every construction project requires financial capital to be realised. Owner makes

use of financial capital to pay contractor for the work done by the contractor and the
contractor makes use of the money to secure the resources needed to operate their
business, get the job done and make profits. Adequate financial capital plays a
significant role in design innovation, regardless whether it is architect design or
engineering design. Project without adequate financial capital may suffer end product
poor design, poor quality, scope reduces and the most miserable, abandoned. Hence,
at the project initiation stage, designer should know what is the budget approved by
client so that he can develop design base on the budget.

Budget or financial constraints usually restricted the designer's ability to express

his ideas and prevented some of the earlier plans being realised. In such situations,
client and designer have several options to be considered. The designer has to consult
the clients about the situation and brief the clients about the available option and impact
of the option. This should be done at the early stage which is at the planning stage.
Failure to do so at the early stage will cause problem at the project execution stage and
the project will face the risk of delayed or abandoned. Based on experiences, there are
several options to be considered by client and designer to rise above financial constraint
before commencement of the project. The general options included:
 Reduce scope of the project or project tasks
 Change specification of materials
 Defer work to future phases

Most designer dream a little bigger than client budget. Thus, at the planning stage,
designer has to discuss with the client whether to proceed with the design and increase
project fund or to reduce project scope and continue the project with the existing fund.
Financial constraint generally make the client choose to reduce project scope and carry
on the project with the existing fund. For example, client may opt to leave out
unimportant items such as decorative fence, fountain or any other item which does not
affect the function of the building. Apart from reduce project scope, client may choose to
reduce building size and maintain the design in order to reduce costs.

Change the specification of material is another option. Client may go for cheaper
material in order to trim down cost. Generally, it is best to look at the highest cost items
first and determine how their costs might be reduced such that the project comes back
in line with the budget. For example, client may choose to use ordinary paint as internal
wall finishing instead of wallpaper or client may opt to use sand brick which is far
cheaper as an alternative of clay brick to reduce costs.

Defer work to future phases is one of the most effective strategies a designer can apply
to maintain his design. Client may choose to reduce current quality of the building and
then perform an upgrade later after he has enough funds to do so. For example, client
may choose to use cement render as floor finish at the current phase to reduce cost and
may upgrade the floor finish at the future phase with luxury floor tiles.