Client expectations in the purview of architecture

Purpose of the study: From the conceptualisation to the construction stage, clients have a wide range of expectations from architects, and sometimes not addressing or meeting these expectations can land both of them in conflicts of interest, which might affect the architect’s career. This study attempts to unfold the dynamics of the client-architect relationships, emphasizing clients’ expectations from architects. Methodology: This research has been conceptualised to cover various aspects of the client-architecture relationships through an in-depth literature review, followed by undertaking a survey. The literature review has touched upon different factors that shape the client-architect relationships, various architects’ theories, and how clients feel. The survey was conducted online amongst 29 architects and 12 clients to get their perspectives on the issue, giving more detailed insights into the topic. Main Findings: The findings have revealed that clients who’ll be personally occupying and using the space have the maximum expectations from the architects who’re designing that space, with these expectations spanning the entire process starting right from their initial interactions to post-occupancy. Most of these expectations and their consequent circumstances become complex where the budgets are strict and tight, as it is difficult for the clients and the architects to compensate for the losses. Novelty/Originality of this study: Architectural practice is an ever-evolving profession, where relationships between architects and clients are not static, but dynamic as per the changing working styles. This study represents a fresh angle of current practicing architects and their views, which may prove beneficial for architects stepping out from colleges to working industry.


INTRODUCTION
Architecture, as a profession, is client-centric. Compared to other designers, architects have very less flexibility with the brief and focus on the client's needs and aspirations. Due to the large amount of capital involved in the design, material sourcing and construction of any project, clients are very particular about their needs. They generally have an eye of scrutiny for the deliverables they get from the architect.
Empirically, architects experience the moral obligation to design keeping the welfare of clients in mind. Any decision made in the field has to be tactful and in the best interest of the client. As much as architects must meet the requirements, some client expectations may not be structurally feasible or environmentally sustainable. As a result, various architects face dilemmas or decision-making challenges at their professional forefront, some of which can hamper their career or create long-lasting hurdles that they might never be able to overcome. Therefore, this research has been centered along the lines of the main research question, which is How as architects and designers, can we learn to cope up with client expectations and not let them become a hurdle in our professional career? What are the factors on which client expectations depend and how architects can manage them? This research attempts to understand different aspects of client expectations and interactions and how an architect can deal with them in the best possible way. This study shows the various problems architects face while dealing with clients and how these problems could be tackled. The study shall also view the issue from a client's perspective and lay down their concerns and expectations from an architect. 3. To analyze the professional aspects of client negotiations. 4. To arrive at broad scenarios that architects might face regarding client expectations and how to approach such situations. 5. The primary collection method is an online survey conducted amongst various architects and clients (who recently hired an architect for their services). This shall be complemented by a comprehensive literature review and understanding a few typical cases through personal anecdotes and case examples.

INVESTIGATING THE CLIENT-ARCHITECT RELATIONSHIP
The architecture and construction industry is significantly driven by client satisfaction. Clients constitute the most important types of stakeholders involved in a project, and hence meeting their expectations is of utmost necessity. Clients can be of different types, such as end-user, owner, property manager, developer, general contractor, etc., and their expectations from the project can vary due to difference in interests. (Ang, Wyatt and Hermans, 2001, p. 2) Similarly, the RIBA classifies clients as Private Domestic, Commercial and Contractors broadly. It is needless to say that sometimes these different parties can have different expectations from the project, and it becomes imperative for the architect to balance them and/ or prioritise them as the situation calls for. (RIBA, 2016, p. 6) While private and commercial clients are self-explanatory to a great extent, contractors, real estate companies, or builders (as in the Indian Context) recruit architects differently. These companies may or may not be the client themselves and hire architects irrespective of that fact. They generally are more critical of architects' works than the lay-man clients and hence look up to the architect with a larger eye of scrutiny. Such a situation often leads to many contractors or builders associating themselves with an architect for a long duration, as a 'favourite' or contractual basis. They are harder to please and thus maintain relationships with a limited set of architects. Another way of looking at the same is, how a client who is recruiting an architect for his/ her work, such as designing his/ her dwelling or workplace, will have different nuances of satisfaction as compared to an enterprise client, who'll own/ operate a building designed by an architect. To the former, every small detail might affect personally, while to the latter, the case might not be the same.
Secondly, the type of project greatly affects the client-architect relationship. A large project with multiple stakeholders may play a different role than a small project wherein the client deals with everything personally. Such a client generally has a relatively smaller budget and values the quality, quantity and finances equally. In such projects, the architect may interact with the client directly instead of mediators, creating a more personal bond. Also, residential projects are where the occupant spends more time than a commercial, cultural or institutional project, and such projects are used/ experienced by limited people rather than the general public. This is another dimension of looking at the same. Thirdly, the type of architectural practice determines whether the architect and the client share a personal or direct relation, or not. In larger firms, wherein Public Relations officers communicate with the clients and a different set of people design (architect, landscape/ interior designer, etc.), there is a more likely chance of a conflict of interest in the case of a communication gap. In smaller firms, where the designer communicates with the client directly, he/ she might assimilate the requirements better and approach the design with a more personal and sensitive attitude. However, larger firms also have a more systematic and orderly approach and deal with client interactions, meeting documentation and issue resolutions better.
As shown in Figure 2, most architecture firms get their majority of business from old clients, since trust and loyalty are valued. It also validates the importance of satisfying client expectations and maintaining healthy relationships, as 'favourite architects' are more likely to get their old clients' new projects, which can bring good job opportunities, especially for budding architects, in the long run.
Additionally, each client has a different outlook and behaviour that he/she exhibits in the whole scenario. These might be irrespective of the above categories, but still have an impact on the client-architect relationship. For instance, some clients have a clear vision of their project and know what they require from the architects, while some don't. They're dependent on their explorative journey along the way and continuously come up with changes as they discover new information. Some clients try to extract as much work possible from the architect as per their budgetary payment, and some try to negotiate within the architectural fees, material costs, etc. The following matrix will introduce the various types of clients architects encounter in the professional field and approach them.  Proper documentation of minutes of meetings and design procedure so that the process can also be held accountable from the clients' side.

2.
Over reaching client The client always insists on getting more from the project than the scope of the project and the design team. Will find ways to expand the brief and detail throughout the design process.
Enter into a mutually signed understanding at the beginning of the project about the brief and scope. Charge additional for any changes in between the process.

3.
Client who need everything fast The client may dictate unrealistic timelines and schedules for the design and construction activities. Will always bother in between creative phases leading to improper designs.
The architect needs to be straight forward with the time required for each phase and make the client understand a realistic schedule.

4.
Client who doesn't care much The client won't present a proper brief and idea of the project. A lackadaisical attitude towards design.
The architect can take most advantage of the freedom that is present. But the client needs to be properly brought to notice on different design stages to ensure smooth transfer.

5.
Client with very specific needs The client will have very specific needs, so specific that there will be no space for the creative input from the architect. The client will wish that the project proceeds exactly as per specification.
The architect needs to be very clear on his design and concept and why it would be better for the client. The architect needs to express the drawbacks of the client requirements.

6.
Budget oriented client The client is always specific on the money he spends and where it gets spent. He will look at ways to reduce the project's cost or add additional requirements at the same price.
The architect needs to be specific on the construction costs and the design services. Any extra requirements should be accommodated at additional price only.

7.
Clients who find faults in the smallest details These clients will find faults in the smallest details and express their distaste in the middle of the construction phase.
Restrict the client's involvement in explaining all the details involved in the project. The architect could understand the overall vision of the project and express his expertise through options.

Client committee
The client is a committee or a group of benefactors. They usually have within committee meetings to discuss the smaller details. This to and fro process delays the process.
The architect should insist on a single spokesperson to lead the entire project in a single comprehensive direction.

THE DOMAINS OF CLIENT EXPECTATIONS
To understand client expectations in the ambit of architecture, an interesting approach could be to study it from the demand-supply perspective, as previously studied by Ang, Wyatt and Hermans, in 2001. Application of this study to the architectural context yields that client expectations can be studied in demand, production and use, and facility management. These domains shall help assess the qualitative aspects with the required quantitative criteria and the link between them.
The domain of demand is the initial, and one of the most crucial domains, as this is the pre-design stage and the stage where initial interactions, pre-briefing, and project definition occur. It is the most important stage as this is where the goals and expectations from the project should be clearly specified and important considerations regarding target audience, user groups, qualitative values, financial and asset values, tentative budgets, operation models, practical and functional implications should be made. These terms shall be well deliberated upon, documented systematically, and referred to time and again to ensure that the clients and architects are on the same page since the beginning.
The production domain regards the project's design and construction and can roughly be characterised by the phase when the project is physically coming up on site. This stage covers various technicalities and details such as cost and quality control calculations, BoQ, strategic decision making, etc., on-site construction, finishing, etc. This stage has its challenges and limitations, since many on-site processes may not take place in direct vigilance and supervision of the architect, for which he/she might be questioned later on. It is also important to ensure that the BoQs and other technical details are prepared as accurately as possible to avoid confusions and miscommunications later.
The domain of use and facility management is where the project is handed over to the client upon completion, and then used/ occupied/ experienced over the years. It involves the stages where the architect might visit the clients for postoccupancy surveys and feedbacks and/ or enquire about any issues faced by them concerning the building etc. This is when the formal interactions between the architect and client conclude, and the architect's impression on the client's mind is registered forever. This shapes their image amongst the client's circle, and/or opens doors for new opportunities in the future.

WHAT DO CLIENTS THINK OF ARCHITECTS?
Architects and clients have varying perspectives of what falls into an architect's scope of work, and both of them need to be aligned in their thought processes regarding the same. Most of the clients are unaware till date or get confused between architects and contractors, architects and civil engineers, and even architects and builders. Thus, they fail to understand the values and qualitative aspects of design, and mostly restricted to the materialistic and quantitative figures, which often creates conflicts between the two parties.

"The difference in social conditions or clients' knowledge and experience causes a disparity in the clients' expectations and evaluations of the architects' services."
In their studies on Client Satisfaction, Furusaka, Kaneta and Miisho, in 2002, elaborate on clients' expectations from architects in terms of customer satisfaction and define it by the degree of the gap between the client's expectations and objective evaluations. They've categorised customer satisfaction broadly into four forms, and focused on Unexpected Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction in their studies, as this is where they feel that the conflict of interest lies. They've mentioned a distinction between basic services that are always delivered and additional services that are delivered based on clients' needs. As per their findings, services listed in the 'unexpected satisfaction services' are mostly basic services, which explains that many clients are not well-versed with the basic responsibilities of architectural firms. However, most of the services enlisted in the 'dissatisfaction services' categories are additional or secondary services, which architects provide, but do not solely focus on. They've also mentioned that while larger firms provide a relatively larger number of services than smaller firms, their outreach and presence is limited as mostly small firms provide services in smaller towns and cities. Most of the smaller firms tended to focus solely on the design process, and aid less in management processes, which caused dissatisfaction amongst their clients. As seen in Figure 4, budget planning and cost control seem to be the core reasons for fallouts between the communication between the clients and the architects, and as established previously, budget and cost matter enormously to both the parties. As rightly quoted by Zahoruk, in 2016, architects provide services and not finished products. These services are focused on meeting the expressed needs of the clients. While architects take onus of the design and management process involved, it's the contractor responsible for constructing the project. Therefore, the clients must understand the scope of work of both these stakeholders before proceeding with their work. changes and accordingly include adequate contingencies in the construction budget to cover the cost of the changes. (Zahoruk, 2016) It is worth noting that errors and omissions are an inevitable part of any creative endeavour. No designer can come up with an 'error-free design'. Therefore, to align client expectations to an architect or any creative professional's work, the clients need to understand their duties and responsibilities.
Various developer/ builder clients in the UK have expressed their interpretations of an ideal architectural project. Julian Robinson (London School of Economics) has expressed how he finds architects add spatial values to buildings and qualitative value to client briefs. He's also shared that architects should provide design-management services, as coordinating between multiple consultants and stakeholders is of utmost importance. (Waite, 2017) A few other clients have added to his thoughts and expressed that architects should have the ability to turn a messy bunch of issues into something functional, elegant, and experiential, and they should be persuasive, compelling and have a mind-set that aids in commercial viability of projects. (Waite, 2017) For most of them, architects should have the ability to provide for more than what's just asked, and be prepared to be on the table. This implies that they should be willing to offer innovative design solutions, evaluate given briefs, and most importantly, and be good managers to provide value-added services at optimised costs. (Waite, 2017) They want the architects to set a realistic budget and then co-own the process of sticking to it. To sum up, they want the architects to strike a balance between good designs and financially-feasible developments.
A few studies by the AIA (American Institute of Architects) also speak about clients' perception of architects, and various firms' addressed of the same. Russo, 2017 shared an excerpt from the AIA Client Insights Report 2016, on how clients are more inclined towards architects who align with them on their thought process, an awareness that comes from understanding the client's background, his/her organisational goals etc., along with the important aspects of client satisfaction (as shown in Figure 6). He's also elaborated on the architects' responsibility to highlight what clients explicitly want and demonstrate collaborative approaches. Architects in the modern era should diversify services instead of focusing on just core architecture, as clients these days seek a more multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving. While the traditional architecture work of delivering high-quality design and documents is extremely critical, clients also highly emphasise several other services they want from architects.
The AIA has also shed importance on how architects 'measure' and interpret client satisfaction, and use that information to align and reorganize the practices within their firm. In its Firm Survey Report 2020, the AIA has mentioned that approximately 37% of small firms have surveyed their clients regarding satisfaction compared to 79% of large firms. Along with maintaining quality checks, communication management and communication is very important in maintaining the client-architect relationship. Communication management is often combined with design and project management processes to maintain coordinated management of data. The table below enlists the various types of communication, and how can architects deal with them.

METHODOLOGY
This research has been conceptualized to obtain data from two major sources: secondary and primary, where primary sources involve surveys and interviews. The survey has been conducted via online platforms among architects and clients, and has received entries from 41 respondents: 29 architects and 12 clients. The survey has yielded significant findings, which shall be discussed in the subsequent sections.
The questionnaire for the clients has been provided in Appendix 1, and the one for architects in Appendix 2..

RESULTS AND FINDINGS
The observations from the survey responses from both, the clients and architects reveal some commonalities which begin with budgetary considerations. Many architects have mentioned the cost-cutting behavior shown by the clients as the construction progresses, and a large amount of money is deposited. This reflects on the client's tendency to cut costs and save further money to whichever extend possible. These cost-cutting measures have a serious implication on the design, because of which the architects end up making new drawings, and ultimately end up doing double the work.
Similarly, many clients have mentioned the architects overcharging, the construction and material costs overshooting the initial budget. Most of these issues also come from inefficiency/ inaccuracy or other unfair means resorted to by the contractors, resulting in architects having to bear the brunt. Architects, who've faced issues in these lines and faced issues regarding the client's budgetary expectations, have recommended that a professional approach involve taking Minutes of

LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix-1 (Questionnaire) 1. Please state your email id? 1) Please mention your name.
a. Architect (currently practicing or have practised) b. Client (have at any point hired an architect for a project) 1.1 Questionnaire for client (section head)

4)
Please mention the name of the architect/ architectural firm you recruited for your project.

5)
In which city is/ was this project based?

6)
What was the project that you recruited the architect for?  d. Unaware about its current status 43) As architects, please share an anecdote/ personal experience/ or provide an insight into the importance of meeting client expectations and lessons for young architects to tackle them and not let them hamper their career.

44)
As per you, what are some of the important aspects pertaining to client expectations that future architects should always keep in mind?