Responsibility Matrix/List

 

There are going to be tasks and responsibilities that several parties on your project team can perform, and those responsibilities and parties change from project to project.  For these tasks, you as the development manager need to clearly identify who is doing what so there is no confusion, no scope gap, and no doubling up of scope.  Responsibility lists are especially useful on senior living developments because there are so many different parties, and a wide variety of tasks that must be performed. 

 

For example, on a senior living project, something as simple as selecting, furnishing and installing a pedicure chairs in your beauty salon can get confusing unless you clearly identify who is doing what within your responsibility list.  Who is going to select the chair - your interior designer or your operator?  Your plumbing and electrical engineer will need to design running water, drain and electrical lines in the plans to this chair.  Who is going to furnish the chair - your GC, or your interior designer as part of the FF&E package?  Your GC is going to have to install the chairs to hook up the water, drain and electrical lines.  

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Another example of a senior living project amenity that should go on the responsibility list is a pickleball court.  The landscape architect will place the pickleball court on the site plan; the civil engineer will incorporate site drainage around the court; the structural engineer will design the foundation and slab of the court; the architect will design and select the fencing, netting and striping on the court; the electrical engineer will design the court lighting; and the GC will construct court.  

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There are dozens of examples of amenities like the two I mention above that go into a senior living development, and without a good responsibility list, you will surely have confusion, which will lead to change orders and delays. 

 

You don’t want to put every responsibility on this list because the list will get too big and lose its value because you will be stating the obvious.  You don’t need to state that the structural engineer will create the structural design of the building.  That is an obvious statement that adds no value.  Try to only list the responsibilities that may be confusing and/or that multiple parties can perform/provide. 

 

Some people like to set up a responsibility matrix with all responsibilities listed down the left-hand side of the chart, and all different responsible parties listed across the top of the chart.  This results in a large grid, and you are supposed to put an “x” in the grid square where a responsibility and a party intersect to identify who is responsible for what.  I think a “matrix” is the wrong tool.  It creates a lot of white space because only one party has a responsibility, and the grid squares for all the other parties for that responsibility are left blank.  This chart, which is mostly filled with blank white space, can get big, which makes it unwieldy and difficult to view, print, share, review with others, and put into contracts as an exhibit.

 

I make and use a much simpler responsibility list.  You list all the responsibilities, like you would with a responsibility matrix, then simply type the responsible party's name next to that responsibility.  I color code each responsible party a different color so that as they are reviewing this long list, they can quickly identify their color and see what responsibilities they have.  An example of a responsibility list for a senior living development is linked by clicking on the below image. 

 

After you put together your responsibility list specific to your project, include it as an exhibit in everyone's contract to be sure you can hold them accountable for their different responsibilities.