MARC 5400: PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE 2024

ASSESSMENT 1:
Document Folio 1: Working with Legislation
This assignment has 3 parts, all due on 22 March @ 11.59pm (week 5). Weighting: 30%

Here’s the Project scenario:

The office has a new client and your boss, Ruby Tuesday, had one of the practice’s senior designers prepare a
sketch plan for them. Oddly (and for reasons not communicated to us), that designer did not check the planning
legislation for the site before completing the sketch plan. This is very bad practice.
Subsequently, Ruby has taken the project from that staff member and given it to you. As the sketch plan largely
meets the client’s brief, she doesn’t want to waste the work that’s already been done but she needs to know
whether or not the design is compliant before deciding what to do next.

Here’s what you’re being asked to do:

Complete a File Note* listing all the planning rules pertaining to the client’s site. Then apply those planning rules
to the sketch plan to understand whether the proposed design complies in its current form, or not. Finally, write
an email to Ruby Tuesday summarising the key points and providing a recommendation about how this project
should go ahead.
*A File Note is an internal office document created to keep track of critical project information, so it is accessible
to other team members, and for future reference if disputes arise. A File Note is not a presentation document to
show to clients, but it should be clear and logical so that other staff can easily understand it.

DELIVERABLES:

10% (group) • Prepare a File Note regarding planning compliance for the project site, including those
from the LEP & the DCP (a proforma document has been provided to help you).
5% (individual) • Annotated sketch plan drawings to graphically illustrate the main compliance issues;
(drawings have been provided for this task).
15% (individual) • An email to your practice director, not more than a page long (note: additional
drawings are not required to be submitted with this email).

Here’s the fine print regarding those deliverables:

(1) The completed File Note must include all planning rules related to:
o Floor Space Ratio
o Building Height
o Visual and Acoustic Privacy
o Building Setbacks
o Landscaped Area Requirements
o Private Open Space
Solar Access clauses have already been completed to get you started and, in the interests of keeping this
task manageable within allowable timeframe, we are not asking you to include any rules related to the
following:
• Heritage
• Carparking
• Waste Management
• Design Quality
(2) Annotate the drawings at 1:100 scale (the drawings will print at 1:100 on A3). You may physically or
digitally draw over the PDF drawings to illustrate compliance rules; then scan it so that the practice can
maintain a digital record (submit your marked up drawings electronically).

(3) While you will not be communicating directly with the client in this task, you will need to relay sufficient
information to Ruby Tuesday so that she can make an informed decision about how this project might go
forward:
• A concise summary of the non-compliances and whether you think these could be addressed through
simple design changes or not.
• List any changes you think should be made but ensure these remain largely in keeping with the key
aspects of the client’s brief (also provided to you). For example, if you need to reduce the floor area,
are there any spaces that could be removed from the brief or consolidated? What, if anything, may
need to change in relation to building height and setbacks?
Please note, you may submit sketches with your email if this helps to better explain your
recommendation, however, we are not asking for a revised design for this assessment, and there
will be no marks awarded for design work. What we are looking for is evidence of your careful
consideration of the planning regulations and what may be possible in the negotiation between the
client’s brief and what is possible relative to their site.
• If your conclusion is that the non-compliances cannot be overcome, you can recommend that a full
redesign be undertaken but you will need to justify this well as it will incur direct expenditure to the
office in terms of work already done that now cannot be billed.
• In writing your email you should remain mindful of the ethical and professional obligations of an
architect and any risks that a project may pose to the practice in terms of overpromising on a design
that may or may not achieve consent; or making assumptions about any factors where further
investigation or engaging an expert opinion might be a good idea.

Remember that Ruby Tuesday is time poor so she will not appreciate an essay. Aim for a concise
email, ideally no longer than a page.

See the following page for the marking schedule.

MARKING SCHEDULE

Unsatis- Satis- Well

Assessment task & criteria factory factory Done Mark

FILE NOTE (10%, group work)

Completeness, Accuracy, Understanding & Clarity

Compiling planning legislation File Notes forms one part of a practice’s
approach to Quality Assurance. Within the File Note we are looking for
evidence that:
• you have included all relevant clauses;
• you have correctly evaluated each clause as ‘compliant’, ‘non-
compliant’ or ‘requiring further information to evaluate’;
• you have understood the implications of each clause relative to the
sketch plan; and
• you can create a document that provides useful guidance for other
staff, i.e. that others can use as a reference to quickly ascertain
whether compliance could be easily achieved (with a design
change), argued for (e.g. non-compliant but defensible in a DA / 10
application), or used as justification for a complete redesign.

ANNOTATED DRAWINGS (5%, individual work)

Confirmation of Understanding & Clarity of Communication

Within the Annotated Drawings we are looking for evidence that:
All key planning rules have been graphically illustrated, in a clear,
logical, and legible fashion that would enable another staff member to
reference those in the process of undertaking any further amendments
to the sketch plan; and confirmation that you understand how to /5
translate text-based planning regulations to a 3-dimensional proposal.

EMAIL (15%, individual work)

Quality of Reasoning & Professionalism

Within the Email we are looking for evidence that:
• confirms your understanding of the planning rules and their
implications for the sketch design;
• demonstrates careful consideration of how the project can go
forward in light of relevant planning legislation, the client’s brief, and
consideration relevant to mitigating risk for the practice;
• you can communicate in a clear, concise, and professional manner. / 15

Relationship to Professional Accreditation Criteria

The following Professional Accreditation Criteria are primarily assessed in this task:
[32] Be able to apply planning principles and statutory planning requirements to the site and conceptual design of the project.
[46] Understand the processes for producing project documentation that meets the requirements of the contract and procurement
procedure and complies with regulatory controls, building standards, codes, and conditions of construction and planning
approvals.

The following Professional Accreditation Criteria are assessed here in a secondary manner:
[2] Understand the role of quality assurance systems in facilitating efficient and timely delivery of architectural services.
[16] Understand risk management and mitigation principles and strategies – including safety in design, project risk, requirement for
resilience from the impacts of climate change and appropriate insurances – across architectural services.