The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) developed the ‘Plan of Work’ in 1963 which has recently been revised into its present format, issued in 2020. Its purpose is to organise the process of briefing, designing, constructing, maintaining, operating and using building projects into a number of key stages. It details the tasks and outputs required at each stage, which may vary or overlap to suit specific project requirements.
The RIBA Plan of Work 2020 itself is not a contractual document: it should be read as a guide and used in-conjunction with supplementary core documents used by a project team, including documents relating to professional services contracts, schedules of services and project protocols, which may or may not be contractual; and to the various forms of commonly used Building Contracts.
As a guide, and for points of reference, we would normally equate the following stages within the Plan of work as follows:
As a guide and for points of reference, we would normally equate the following stages within the Plan of Work as follows:
