Building a Data Centre

The data centre's lifecycle comprises different stages. In the United Kingdom, the RIBA Plan of Work is commonly used to define building project stages. Before there is a project, a need will be identified. The data centre owner may need to seek investors to finance the project. The client will develop a design brief which outlines what the project needs to achieve. These may be known as Employer Requirements or Owner's Project Requirements. The designer will produce a design based on the requirements, which outlines their proposal for how to deliver the brief. Data centre construction may be via traditional onsite construction or the provision of offsite constructed modules. One advantage of modular construction offsite is that quality control is easier to achieve in a factory environment. Perhaps the first construction procurement decision is whether to have an employer's design with a separate construction contract or contracts.