If your experience with construction contract administration is like that of many, you may think of it as “being jerked around” more than “administering”. You may be confounded by a flood of RFIs and feel you are unable to do…
The Importance of Coordination in Architecture and Engineering Work
Professional liability insurance companies repeatedly report that coordination issues are a major cause of legal claims against design professionals. A Merriam-Webster definition of coordination includes the following: 1) the process of organizing people or groups so that they work together…
In a punch list inspection, look for the missing
Project punch lists can grow into volumes of pages listing paint blemishes, scuff marks, and bits of dust, while neglecting to note significant missing items. On one project the punch list team had tagged and noted as many as 20…
Posted in Construction Administration
The Best Mediation Turns the Page
Several years ago I participated in a mediation related to a commercial building which had been plagued by persistent roof leaks over a period of more than 5 years since its construction. The owner had grown exasperated by having to…
Planning Construction Site Visits
Construction activities and materials change with stages of construction, so it is useful to consider the activities and products you should expect to see on a given site visit before you go. If, like most construction administrators, your job is…
Planning a School Renovation Project
Renovation projects may look easy if the folks who normally use the building are gone. School renovation projects are usually not that way. More often, design and construction have to account for ongoing occupancy and school operations during the course…
Spec Writer = Information Manager
A comment from Sheldon Wolfe RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CSC on The Role of the Spec Writer got me thinking about how, in today’s world of design and construction, the spec writer really is an information manager. Although spec writers…
The Rise of Manufactured Systems in Architectural Design
One of the many things that have changed in the practice of architecture during the last 50 years is our dependence on manufactured building systems. Architectural education and training 50 years ago included the detailed design of components like windows,…
The Role of the Spec Writer
Reading recent grumblings by specifications (spec) consultants, I started thinking back over the roles of the spec writers at firms where I have worked since I began my architectural career in the 1960s. Spec writing and related technologies have changed…
Cathedral Ceiling Woes
Insulating a cathedral ceiling with fiberglass batts and ventilating the same framing spaces does not work very well where framing spaces are interrupted by framing offsets, skylights, chimneys, or other penetrations, or where the roof framing changes direction or is…
Posted in Construction Documents, Design
