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Expertise & Expectations

2/24/2020

7 Comments

 
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Contributed by Eric Hardenbrook
After reading last week's post, 'Where Did the Good Drawings Go?', I wanted to comment. I tried to formulate a way to squeeze all the things I wanted to say into that little comment box while remaining coherent. It just didn't work, there was simply too much to say. Rather than piling on or picking specific pieces to react to, I need to go in an additional direction that dovetails with what that article had to say.

Architecture schools need to adapt or die. An alternate path to obtaining a license for technical architecture should be created and contain mandatory time at a construction site as a graduation requirement. If you have a problem with your foot, you don't go see a cardiologist. The medical profession figured it out, architecture should too. Why do I have to see a designer if my needs are technical when it comes to my building? There should be room for both.

The question of the drawings is what I found particularly vexing. I was delighted that we at least are not blaming the software at this point. A carpenter shouldn't blame the hammer if the cabinets are crooked. What are you looking at when you say 'drawings' these days? Are you holding one sheet of paper? A roll of drawings? An iPad or a smart device or a laptop? Did you get the whole set of drawings or just the parts that were deemed to pertain to what you're working on, without regard to where those references come from? Better, do you have a screen in the job trailer with a junior member of the team 'driving' you around a three-dimensional view of the project? Where did that model come from? Who made the decisions on all the parts that model was created from? In short ~ when you say 'drawings', what are your expectations?

That brings us to the expertise part. When you – or anyone really – are signing a deal, what are you agreeing to? Yes, there's all that so-called standard language at the front end of the spec, but is the AIA E203 or G201 included in the contract documents? Have you discussed any of what is in those with your team? And not just your own office, but any consultants you might be working with? When those items are part of the mix, you are saddling the team with very specific technology requirements along with 'just making drawings'.
Having a clear understanding of what you're signing up to deliver sounds like common sense, but is too often pushed aside with thoughts like, “we've built buildings for years, this can't be that hard...” or “we just need to get this work, then we'll figure out the technical bits...”. These thought processes are the root of a great many of these so-called poor drawings. The expectation in many offices is that we've done this with vanilla CAD for years, we'll cut the fee and hand the grunt work to a junior drafter.

This way of thinking must stop. The team tasked with creating project documentation requires a level of knowledge and skill that is vastly different from what it has been in the past. This includes numerous fields of study that are specifically NOT architecture. On any given day / project, I am required, at a minimum, to have a working (expert) or at least functional knowledge of no fewer than 15 separate computer programs to create the various parts of project presentations. That does not include video or audio production if we're trying to create one of those cool ten-second videos of our model to show clients or use in an interview. That's just the programs. That doesn't include the actual architecture parts. You know, little things like ADA, IBC, NFPA, rebar, flashing, expansion joints... you get the idea.

Members of any construction team, from the lead designer all the way to the team in the job trailer, need to have a clear expectation and understanding of what is behind what they are asking for. IF you are part of the boots on the ground, communicate what you need. Be specific about what you need to see in the drawings that you're not seeing. What are you asking for? If you're part of the design / production team, demand time to get out of the chair and into the field. Gain as much knowledge as you can from the people that put these things together.
7 Comments
Jori B Smith
2/25/2020 11:32:32 am

As a member of the construction team, let me clarify that I am not asking for additional or different documentation - only that the construction documents meet the "4 Cs": clear, concise, correct and complete. Uncoordinated and conflicting drawings between A/E sheets, incorrect detail flags, conflicting notes, unedited specifications - these represent the daily struggle. As all of the responsibilities and deliverables expected of our design professionals have increased, the quality control has decreased. This situation only aggravates an already stressful and conflict-ridden industry.

Reply
Keith Robinson link
2/26/2020 11:29:09 am

40+ Years ago, I was trained as an Architectural Technologist - an aid to the technical architect to bring the design vision to life, and create drawings and specifications that could be read by the contractor. I was trained in building science (how the building goes together) building envelope (the physics of dynamic moisture and airflow through the enclosure), cost estimating, detailing, with heavy doses of architectural design, engineering (in all disciplines), and rendering. A well rounded training program that made graduates a useful entity to the design architect.

That program now focuses on the production software and has very little content on building science or practical detailing... and I do not think that my alma mater is an exception... this is a trend that needs to be corrected.

Having said that - a return to those principles, using the current set of software tools that we have available would make (should make) for better communication set (of whatever we are going to call drawings these days).

Following up on Jori's observation (I have 5 Cs) of Clear, Concise, Complete, Correct and Consistent documentation... there is the antipodean to that (I call my Anti-Cs) of Confusing, Cryptic, Complex, Clueless and Contrived documentation. Which results from the copy|paste that is the current approach that creates incomplete communication.

Quality of Documents --- this does not need increased numbers of details, which is the typical response to the contractor's pleas for more detail. 10's of more details that still offer incomplete and cryptic solutions are just as useless as 1.

We need improved details - and a recognition from the contractor side that drawings and specification represent 'what' is required... with the contractor being the contributor to 'how' to deliver on the representation (shop drawings, project coordination, collaborative problem solving).

It is easy to put 100% the blame on the drawings - it is what we all see first and represents the point of contact where problems start. But I will posit that the problem is larger - that we have all become more specialized across all project participants; to point that we no longer understand our respective roles we contribute in bringing about the the constructs of our built environment.


Great series of articles - as always - keep up the good work @Let's Fix Construction!!!

Reply
Paul O'Brien link
3/4/2020 06:00:43 pm

I happen to work at an architecture firm in which we often encounter ancient and venerable blueprint sets of hand-drawn paper sheets (1900s-1980s). They're way better than anything I've produced. Clear, concise, and - above all - short.

And very, very light on details.

Keith Robinson's comment above is spot on. His training 40 years ago was what the architects of old knew. Those guys put their stamps on the structural sheets that they drew themselves, and they constrained their designs to reality. As a non-architect it's training I wish I had. We've got a guy in the office who's a great technical architect, but the other architects admit that their schooling emphasized "design" over all things. Their work was judged more on ideas than anything else.

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concrete slab formwork link
2/18/2021 12:55:13 am

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Reply
concretecontractors2021 link
5/28/2021 01:11:37 am

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Deck link
9/7/2021 06:38:27 pm

Thank you.

Reply
Timothy Arek link
10/15/2021 04:34:49 am

Thanks for sharing, by the way.

Reply



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