What is Integrated Planning and Design?
The Planning Team provides a service to the project manager by working with stakeholders to develop the preliminary scope, schedule and budget.
For the strategic effort, the Planning Team assists the campus departments in developing a strategic plan which addresses programmatic needs coupled with the deferred maintenance needs of the campus. This approach seeks to enhance the communication with the project delivery section to maximize the benefit for all parties involved. This planning effort is expected to reduce costs and ensure the scope of the project includes all items at the start of the project.
While this approach requires time investment up front, it sets up projects for success. For example, departments may make decisions on where to place an incoming researcher without including the knowledge of the facility experts. Planning brings in facility expertise to assist in placing that researcher in the most beneficial location for both programmatic and facility conditions. Or, the planning effort may combine client projects in the same building to maximize monetary resources and reduce construction time compared to executing the projects separately. Ultimately, increased focus on project planning will highlight key issues and bring them forward for resolution before design is complete and construction begins. It is an overall cost and time saver.