5. Lack of specifications

Unfortunately, and much more frequently than one might think, projects are carried out without specifications. This highly unprofessional approach leads to predictable results: poor performance, high end-of-pipe costs, repeated delays, internal and external conflicts, no recourse to expert appraisal or legal action, and so on.

Faced with a purely verbal consultation, the service provider is faced with three possibilities:

• accept to work without specifications, which is undoubtedly the worst solution for the reasons mentioned above;

• decline the offer, which is always a difficult business decision;

• draw up an offer in the form of a specification, undoubtedly the least bad solution, but one that requires a considerable amount of work, often unpaid and...