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There is something very strange going on in the building world if you look at the order in which decisions are now made for you as end user. These can cause you considerable damage. As an End User you do not get what you want and pay way too much. The name End User often implies you are at the very end of the decision-making chain and if you’re not careful you are the last one to receive vital information. It is in your interest to become the Primary User, which also means Primary Decision Maker! Therefore BRIQS advocates Open Building as the standard, also in decision making, where you will naturally be the Primary User. Want to know how? Then read on!

Maybe you have personal experience and you know how frustrating and costly the current approach can be! What is the case? At present, all decisions about a building are often made at one time, in advance. Decisions about the foundation, structure, façade, roof, layout, equipment, materials, finishings, and even the design of furnishings and fixed furniture such as bathrooms and kitchens. The overall plan regularly sits on the shelf for some time, to organize financing and permits, for example. With THE DECISION every possibility to adapt the base building, fit-out and fixed furniture to new insights, is frozen. This pushes your interest all the way to the back!

The logical approach

The order in which your needs for change arise, happen from small to big. Something annoys you and you want to change that. An example: the place of a door or the connection to the washing machine. Then you bump into some other thing, perhaps literally, and you will want make quick changes. The closer the annoyance touches your daily use, the faster you want to solve it. That makes sense, right? So let’s arrange decision making in this order and by time as well, from small to big. Even if you have to deal with a restricted freedom. I mean the physical hard hierarchy, from big to small, that characterizes construction. Because the environment of a building always determines what kind of base building is allowed and how big it can be. The base building determines how much room there is for your personal fit-out. Your fit-out determines which furniture fits. So, always look for the maximum fulfillment of your wishes in this. That is in your best interest and in the interest of sustainability. How do we do that?

Shifting perspective

To begin with, we need to look at a few things from a different perspective. At the ownership of real estate, for example, and how to finance it. And at flexibility. You must realize that real estate now pretends time does not exist, as if nothing can change. That is not in your interest. Base building and fit-out are seen as one entity in the budget, while each component has its own lifecycle. A strong base building may last a hundred years or more. Look at various monuments or the 200 years of Base Building guarantees in Japan you need to consider. Again and again you adapt the fit-out to keep your home comfortable. Others who follow you, want and will do that too. Because the fit-out is flexible, the building retains its value. For you, because you can live the way you want. And for the owner of or investor in the base building because his building stays useable without change for a long time. You and the owner only need to invest in the part that is of use to you.

The goal of flexibility

So, what does BRIQS aspire to in your best interest? That base building and fit-out are financially no longer treated as a whole. Then you can arrange your financing for each component separately. For example, a mortgage for thirty years for your base building, a lease for your fit-out and savings or a personal loan for your furniture. Then you are much more flexible in your choices. You make them in your own good time or when things need replacing. Flexibility or adaptability is a major condition for sustainability. As BRIQS is concerned, this kind of flexibility is the new starting point for all decision making in building. That is how you become a Primary User.

Implementing flexibility

How can we implement this flexibility, this resilience, to be in your best interest? This requires that the entire building process meets these four conditions:

  1. Short-term decisions cannot stand in the way of long-term decisions. That we prevent by taking separate, consecutive decisions based on the different life cycles of base building, fit-out and furniture.
  2. We take decisions on adjustments from small to big. The fit-out and base building are adjusted to your wants and needs time and time again. We keep room for the unknown, and we take into account the hard hierarchy of building.
  3. Flexibility is clearly stated in all documents. You monitor that as a Primary User, together with the developer and the investor.
  4. Developers are working on cultural changes: flexibility is the standard and a normal part of the way they do business with you. You have no use for a developer that stands in your way or holds you back.

BRIQS aims to ensure that both new and existing buildings meet your human and varied behavior. This very much requires both the building and decision-making process to be flexible, so that you become a Primary User instead of End User. With Open Building we will reach both goals and measure up to the main conditions for social, ecological and economic sustainability at the same time.

Take the next step and share your experiences

Do you want to take a next step? Come to the FREE* Masterclass. We will work with practical tools to instantly implement the actions of my ebook in your organizational, fiscal or financial projects and organization.

Join the conversation

Do you know how to build that new way and what you need? Do you want to contribute your experiences to this revolution? Share it in the comments below.

To your health and wellbeing,

Remko Zuidema