3.1 Introduction to the Employer's Requirements

The Employer’s Requirements form the very foundation of the entire project and are essential, as foundations are for the stability of a building. They are indispensable and must be put together with great care, by people with knowledge and understanding of the various contents. The big challenge for management, both within the Owner and the Contractor, is to know their own people in-depth and to know how each individual approaches and assesses the issues connected to the Employer’s Requirements. Do they approach and evaluate with an open mind or do they act from a mind that is already made-up, are any of them biased either negatively of positively with regard to the success of the project or is their mind-set neutral and are they allowing the facts and figures determine their opinion on the project? This is an essential issue both within the Owner’s organisation as well as within the tendering Contractors’ organisations.