Stakeholder Map

Overview

Build a stakeholder map for a North American AEC project — identify all stakeholders across six categories, assign RACI roles per AIA project phase, document decision rights and communication cadence, and place stakeholders on an influence/interest grid. Output lives in docs/stakeholders/.

Aligned with North American AEC practice: AIA B101 / C401 phase definitions, PMI PMBOK stakeholder management, ICRA + ICRA 2.0 for healthcare, and the typical AHJ structure for US/Canadian municipalities.

When to use

Trigger on:

• Pasted project context with a governance, sign-off, or communication question.
• Explicit asks: "stakeholder map", "RACI matrix", "who decides what", "who needs to be in the room", "map stakeholders for this project".
• Hand-off from brief-review when the brief flagged decision-rights gaps.
• Pre-kickoff prep before SD launches.

Do NOT trigger for:

• Brief / RFP review (use brief-review).
• Meeting notes structuring (use meeting-notes-cleaner).
• Drawing-set review (use drawing-checklist).
• Client-facing language translation (use client-translator).

Workflow

Step 1 — Bootstrap if needed

Check that docs/stakeholders/index.md exists. If not:

python scripts/init_stakeholders_workspace.py

Step 2 — Establish project context

Read docs/project.md if it exists for project type, delivery method, jurisdiction, owner type. If missing, ask once for:

• Project type — commercial / civic / healthcare / education / residential / mixed-use / industrial. Drives which authorities and consultants are required.
• Delivery method — Design-Bid-Build / Design-Build / CM at Risk / IPD / Progressive Design-Build. Drives the Construction-side stakeholders and timing of GC entry.
• Owner type — private / public-municipal / public-state / public-federal / institutional (university, hospital system) / nonprofit. Drives governance gates and public engagement.
• Jurisdiction — city + state. Drives AHJ list (some jurisdictions have unique authorities — NYC DOB/FDNY, CA HCAI for hospitals, DSA for K-12, NYC SCA, GSA for federal).

Step 3 — Identify stakeholders across six categories

Load references/stakeholder_categories.md for the full taxonomy. Quick reference:

1. Owner-side — owner, owner's rep / PM, end users, finance, board / trustees, legal, IT/security, facilities ops.
2. Design team — architect of record (AOR), design architect (if separate), structural, MEP (mechanical / electrical / plumbing / fire protection), civil, landscape, lighting, acoustics, AV/IT, security, code consultant, sustainability/LEED, accessibility, signage/wayfinding, FF&E, kitchen, lab planner, healthcare planner — only the disciplines the project type requires.
3. Construction — GC / CMAR / DB lead, key subs (concrete, steel, glazing, MEP), suppliers (long-lead equipment), commissioning agent (if owner-engaged).
4. Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) — building department, fire marshal, planning / zoning, ADA / accessibility office, DOT (if curb cut / row impact), utility companies (electric / gas / water / sewer / telecom), environmental (state EPA, EPA region), public health (food service, pools, healthcare), historic preservation (if applicable), school district facilities (if K-12), state agencies (HCAI, DSA, OSHPD-equivalent if healthcare/education in regulated state).
5. Public / community — neighbors, community board / neighborhood council, advocacy groups, business improvement district, tribal consultation (if applicable).
6. Operations / post-occupancy — facility manager, IT / network, security operations, custodial / cleaning, food service, parking, building engineer.

For each stakeholder, capture: name (or role if person unknown), organization, role, primary contact channel.

Step 4 — Assign RACI per AIA phase

Load references/raci_guide.md for guidance on applying RACI to AEC phases (Pre-design, SD, DD, CD, Bidding/Procurement, CA, Closeout).

For each stakeholder × phase cell:

• R (Responsible) — does the work
• A (Accountable) — single owner of the decision (only one A per decision)
• C (Consulted) — two-way input before decision
• I (Informed) — one-way notification after decision

Common pitfalls (from references/raci_guide.md): assigning multiple A's to one decision, confusing R with A, omitting AHJ from C in jurisdictions where pre-application consultation is standard.

Step 5 — Document decision rights & communication cadence

Beyond RACI, capture:

• Sign-off authority — who signs off at end of SD, DD, CD, IFC. Single person or committee vote.
• Decision SLA — owner response time commitment (typical: 5 business days for routine, 10 for board-level).
• Meeting cadence — weekly OAC, biweekly user group, monthly executive review, quarterly board.
• Escalation path — when to escalate, to whom.

Step 6 — Place stakeholders on influence/interest grid

Classic 2x2:

• High influence + high interest → manage closely (frequent touchpoints, deep engagement)
• High influence + low interest → keep satisfied (periodic high-level updates)
• Low influence + high interest → keep informed (regular updates, encourage feedback)
• Low influence + low interest → monitor (minimal effort)

The grid drives communication strategy, not necessarily project authority.

Step 7 — Write the stakeholder map

Read assets/stakeholder-map-template.md, fill placeholders. Filename:

docs/stakeholders/<YYYY-MM-DD>-<slug>.md

Slug rule: lowercase, [^a-z0-9-] removed, max 40 chars, derived from project name (acme-hq-stakeholders, westside-school). If a map with the same date+slug already exists, suffix -<n>.

Use the Write tool. English only.

Step 8 — Update the stakeholder index

python scripts/append_to_index.py \
  --date 2026-05-07 \
  --slug acme-hq-stakeholders \
  --project-type commercial \
  --delivery-method dbb \
  --owner-type private

The script appends a row to docs/stakeholders/index.md. Do NOT edit the index manually.

Step 9 — Report

Tell the user:

• Path to the stakeholder map.
• Top 3 high-influence-high-interest stakeholders to engage first.
• Any decision rights gaps (cells where Accountable is missing).
• Any AHJ that should receive a pre-application consultation before SD launches.

Rules

• Every decision has exactly one A. If two parties claim sign-off, that is a finding, not a fact — record it and recommend resolution.
• AHJs are stakeholders. They are not just "constraints" — they need consultation, RFI cycles, plan review submissions on a schedule.
• Jurisdiction-specific authorities must be named (e.g., "California HCAI" not "state hospital authority"; "NYC DOB" not "building department").
• For public-sector owners, identify the procurement officer and the elected/appointed sign-off body separately. They are different stakeholders with different decision rights.
• When the owner is a corporation, name the legal entity (the contracting party) separately from the operational owner (the day-to-day client). They may diverge on decisions.

Anti-patterns

• Generic "city" or "the AHJ" entries — name the department.
• RACI matrix where every cell is filled with R / A / C / I letters in pretty patterns. Most stakeholders are not C or I on most decisions; leave cells blank when there is no role.
• Treating subs as undifferentiated. Identify the trade leads that drive long-lead procurement (mechanical, electrical, glazing, elevator, switchgear).
• Missing post-occupancy stakeholders. The facility manager has decision rights on FF&E and operational systems that affect CD.
• Editing index.md manually instead of using append_to_index.py.

Resources

• scripts/init_stakeholders_workspace.py — bootstrap docs/stakeholders/ and the stakeholder index
• scripts/append_to_index.py — append a row to docs/stakeholders/index.md
• references/stakeholder_categories.md — North American AEC stakeholder taxonomy by project type, with jurisdiction-specific AHJ names
• references/raci_guide.md — how to apply RACI by AIA project phase, common pitfalls, decision-type examples
• assets/stakeholder-map-template.md — stakeholder map markdown template