DBA, method statement, project design

[troll]

With increasing frequency, small units are foregoing the preparation and delivery of dbas/method statements and project designs.After enquiring as to why this is, I was told that to be competative and have any hope of winning contracts, small units pare down their tenders by ommitting some stages of the process.As a result, I have been a part of a good few excavations where the team arrive on site-have no idea of what is there-dig it how they see fit and then leave.One notable Principal Arch who had been with the same unit for some time informed me that he had not seen any of the above in over twenty years.How ubiquitous is this? This surely makes a mockery of standards and professionalism and obviously is encouraged by a commercial environment that is left un-mauled by an institute offering optional standards.How widespread is this?

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[historic building]

If they have turned up on site without having agreed the scope of works with the development control archaeologists, and this work is to answer a planning consent then they are also potentially at risk of not fulfilling its requirements.

If it is a matter of not communicating within the company then this is a different matter. This is then an issue of management within the company.

Obviously no one should be turning up on site and ‘digging how they see fit’.

[troll]

G`day Historic-agree completely. This issue by default surely has to be confronted at management level.Of course from unit to unit-"management" can mean anything from a tired old 70s digger who simply doesnt care anymore to a professional following professional guidelines. The illuminating issue here for me is that Curators allow this sort of practise without (on occasion) as much as a raised eyebrow.Clearly, a good insight into the ravages of competative tendering or- a complete dismissal of current and "accepted" codes of practise.

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[1man1desk]

I have seen some pretty dodgy bits of curatorial practice, but generally speaking my experience is that they do follow through the stages of work that are required.

If a DBA is requird (common, but not universal - there may already be enough information to decide on whether any fieldwork is required and on its design), then there should always be one, and it should be prepared as a separate piece of work from the preparation for fieldwork.

Where a DBA is required, its results should normally form the basis for the curator's decision as to whether fieldwork is necessary, and what type(s). If the curator already knows what fieldwork is required, there generally shouldn't need to be a DBA beforehand.

Method statements are entirely separate from the DBA. My favoured model is that method statements should take the form of Specifications and should be prepared separately, by someone else, before the invitation to tender. The unit may therefore not need to prepare one at all, but if they do it will be to expand on parts of the Specification where the Spec has asked them to do so.

If there is no prior Spec, then the unit must produce a proper MS/WSI if they are to comply with the IFA standards.



1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[BAJR Host]

Which is interesting when they don't... and then glibly say... ah well... too late now.

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[beamo]

Mr Hosty

It may well be interesting when contractors start working without an MS/WSI and say glibly 'ah well, too late now', but it is also in direct contravention of the IFA Standard and Guidance for Evaluations (or Excavations) and therefore an RAO or any individual IFA member could be reported to the IFA for this.


Beamo

[troll]

Sadly, if complaints were made about every breach of IFA tenets-they would need a quarter of a million staff members to process the overflowing in-tray.In my humble opinion-the IFA cannot possibly police the industry and have no legal standing with which to do so.Curators on the other hand are a different case altogether.They have the mandate and responsibility but clearly-across the country, some can be bothered some not.:face-huh:

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[BAJR Host]

Beamo... quite right indeed..


and troll.. quite right....

perhaps if we all carried out our functions...

Contractors work for Clients
Curators/DCs ensure work is carried out to standards set by
IFA produce nationally accepted standards which are endorsed by
SCAUM who represent the Contractors who deal with
PROSPECT/Diggers Forum who represent employyes who work for the
Contractors... who work for Clients.... etc

"No job worth doing was ever done on time or under budget.."
Khufu

[1man1desk]

Posted by Troll:

quote:the IFA cannot possibly police the industry and have no legal standing with which to do so. Curators on the other hand are a different case altogether.They have the mandate and responsibility ...

There is some truth in that, but it does over-state the curators' position.

If anyone has a mandate, it is the Local Planning Authority, who are required to take archaeological effects into account as one amongst many 'material factors' in making decisions in the planning system, and who are supposed to do this in line with guidance in PPG16.

The curators have more day-to-day influence than the IFA, because they work closely with the LPAs. However, they have no more actual legal standing than the IFA - they are simply advisors to the planning authority, who are not legally obliged to either seek or take their advice. They have no actual decision-making powers.

The sanctions open to the curators are very limited - they can advise the LPA to refuse planning permission (if it is a pre-determination case) or to refuse to discharge a planning condition (if it is post-determination). The LPA may or may not take their advice, and the curator would have to have a very strong case to take either of these paths.

Even the LPA's legal mandate extends only to the planning system - for projects outside the planning system, such as trunk roads or strategic pipelines, the LPA's role is purely advisory.

Curators do have two strengths not available to the IFA - they have a presence on the ground with the capacity (in theory) to monitor all the work in their area, and their remit extends to all units working in their area, not just to RAOs.

Rather than seeing them as alternatives, I see the IFA and curators as complementing and strengthening each other. The curators extend the reach of the IFA standards (if not the IFA itself) by making their use a requirement in briefs, even where the work is not done by an RAO or a member of the IFA. On the other hand, where the curator observes a transgression by an RAO, a report to the IFA (or even just the threat of one) provides an additional potential sanction that does not depend on the cooperation of a non-archaeological planning official.

I don't know how often that threat is used by curators. However, believe it or not, I have in the past successfully extracted post-ex funding from a reluctant client by warning him that I might be reported to the IFA by the curator for not reporting on fieldwork!

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[beamo]

'The sanctions open to the curators are very limited' - 1m1d - you are dead right here. The point I was trying to make in my earlier post is that one of the sanctions is to report the contractor (individual or corporate) to IFA if there is any perceived breach of the Codes of Conduct. As you make perfectly clear, the other sanctions regaridng planning consents and enforcements are quite limited.

Troll - perhaps you are right in that the IFA in-tray would be over-flowing, but is that any reason for not making the effort ? I understand that you see IFA to be fairly ineffective in 'policing' the profession, but IFA can only act on cases that are reported to them.


Beamo