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Architects get consistently lower satisfaction ratings from contractors compared with domestic or commercial clients and suffer across-the-board problems with process-management, according to a new survey.

A RIBA report called Working With Architects found that just 51% of contractors said they were either 鈥渧ery satisfied鈥� or 鈥渇airly satisfied鈥� with the work of their architects, compared with 76% of domestic clients and 73% for commercial clients.

Three-quarters of contractors said they were either 鈥渧ery鈥� or 鈥渇airly鈥� dissatisfied with architects鈥� commercial understanding, while 66% gave the same rating to architects鈥� value-adding activities and their ability to adhere to programmes.

The institution鈥檚 crunch of responses from around 1,000 clients surveyed identified process-management as a core area of dissatisfaction among contractors with just 30% of contractors saying they were 鈥渧ery鈥� or 鈥渇airly鈥� satisfied. The figure was 61% for domestic clients and 56% for commercial clients.

A breakdown of the process-management areas in which contractors were particularly dissatisfied included commercial understanding, value-adding activities, adhering to the programme and technical design specification.

RIBA president Jane Duncan said that while the survey鈥檚 overall findings showed clients were pleased with architects鈥� work, it was the anomalies and poorer ratings that should be a guide for future relationships.

鈥淐ontractors are a distinct market segment, but their satisfaction ratings for our process management skills fell below our self-imposed baseline,鈥� she said.

鈥淭he next step is to respond positively with training and support. We also need to establish best methods for the RIBA to monitor how effectively we are improving over time.鈥�

Her predecessor Stephen Hodder, who is also the institute鈥檚 client ambassador, said that while feedback from contractors was disappointing, it could be skewed by the process of assembling construction teams for particular jobs.

鈥淭he briefing process is often largely concluded by the time architects are novated to the contractor,鈥� he said.

鈥淎nother issue is to do with clashing motivations. While architects are minded to consider a wide spectrum of concerns, contractors鈥� contractual focus is narrower.鈥�

Hodder added that the survey data also flagged differences in satisfaction levels between different types of building.

He said clients in education were 鈥渄istinctly less happy with the overall briefing than others鈥�, while the health sector was 鈥渧ery satisfied鈥� with brief development but much less satisfied that the resulting building met the brief.