Author Archives: Liz O'Sullivan

Unknown's avatar

Can You Say “Addendum”?

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Yeah, “addendum” is a fancy word, derived from Latin. The Latin background is the reason the plural is “addenda.”  But really, what’s important is that it means something that’s added.  In construction, it’s something added to or deleted from the contract, or something that revises the contract.  Remember, the contract includes the contract documents – the drawings, the specifications, the agreements, etc.

The Project Resource Manual – CSI Manual of Practice, published by the Construction Specifications Institute, says that addenda are “written or graphic instruments issued to clarify, revise, add to, or delete information in the procurement documents or in previous addenda.”  It goes on to say that “it is imperative that participants to the construction process properly account for these changes by posting or documenting the appropriate addenda information in the affected areas of the drawings and specifications.” 

So, what is the proper procedure for design professionals when issuing addenda?

Remember that you are MODIFYING THE CONTRACT DOCUMENTS.  The easiest way to think about this is to put yourself in the shoes of the people building the project.  They are going to take your addendum, cut out the additions from the paper document of the addendum, and tape them over the things in the originally-issued documents that changed.  They will strike through the things that your addendum deletes.  When you, the design professional, issue addendum changes (or ANY modifications to the contract documents, actually) you NEED to actually MODIFY THE DOCUMENTS.  If an Addendum item changes something about the contract documents, you have to actually modify the documents.  You can’t just answer bidder questions without actually modifying your documents, the contract documents, to back up the answer to your question.

If you can’t put yourself in the shoes of the contractor, put yourself in your own future shoes.  How does it feel when a question comes up late in the project, and you think that you may have changed something a while ago, but now you can’t remember what changed, and there is no official documentation of that modification?  Feels bad.  Looks bad to your client.

Do yourself, and your clients, and the contractor, a favor.  Issue proper and complete addendum modifications.  Change the actual documents, and, even if you don’t issue a whole drawing, document exactly what the change is, so that the intent is unambiguously communicated to all the participants in a construction project.  You’ll probably thank yourself later!

Unknown's avatar

Construction Product Reps – NOT Just Salespeople

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Denver CSI had its annual Symposium today – technically, it’s the Education Symposium and Product Show.  There were about 35 different product reps (my estimate) representing hundreds of construction products.  Unfortunately, I only managed to visit 6, because I spent a very long time with each one I got to talk to…  I always have lots of questions.  I hope to be invited by a product rep again next year, and catch up with the rest of the reps I didn’t get to visit with! 

The Product Show component of today’s event reminded me of a comment I made on someone else’s blog a couple of months ago.  The blog is written by a young architect and the intended audience is intern architects.  The post that prompted me to comment was entitled “The gentle art of product-rep self-defense.”  I’m not the only one who commented – actually, the blog post started a truly excellent discussion among commenters and the blog author.  Here’s the link to the blog and comments: http://architectureintern101.blogspot.com/2011/01/gentle-art-of-product-rep-self-defense.html

It’s somewhat embarassing to admit that only in the last few years have I come to understand the importance of the role of product reps in construction projects.  These people can be tremendous resources throughout an entire project, from schematic design through the warranty period. 

Copied below is my comment from the discussion:

“I was just discussing this issue yesterday with a product rep, and fellow Denver CSI member. I’m a spec writer, and a licensed architect, and I practiced as an architect for years before I started writing specs. As soon as I started writing specs, I realized how hugely important product reps are. But when I was working as an architect, my opinion of product reps was the same as yours.

“Product reps know their products better than anyone else could ever hope to – they know them better than architects, spec writers, contractors, owners, and users do.

“These people aren’t just salespeople – many of these people do forensic investigations on their products, when failures occur on projects. Failures usually turn out to be due to improper installation. Sometimes improper installation is a result of poor or incorrect project specifications written by the project specifier, or poor or incorrect details drawn by the project architect. We, as design professionals, may have more to learn from failures than from anything else. These product reps are tremendous technical resources for specifiers and for architects who know how to tap into them.

“My recommendations to your readers: Get to know a product rep for a product you frequently use. Ask this rep to review your project specifications and details that include their product – you may surprise yourself and learn something about a product you thought you knew well! Then you’ll see how much product reps have to offer.”

Unknown's avatar

Please, Colleagues, Read Your Contracts

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Please, fellow design professionals, read the agreements your clients give you to sign.

Please understand them before you sign them.  Review them with your attorney if you don’t understand everything.

Negotiate with your clients to get acceptable provisions.

Know the liability pitfalls of giving up ownership of your instruments of service.

Understand the dangers in giving up the ownership of your copyrights on your work.

And, please don’t do free work.

Times are tough.  Please don’t contribute to making the recovery harder for our profession.

Unknown's avatar

Respect for the Construction Trades

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I have great respect for people who work hard and are good at their work.

Many people consider hard work and skill to be respect-worthy.  However, the same people who respect hard-working and successful doctors, actors, and software engineers, often have little or no respect for hard-working, successful construction tradespeople.

This lack of respect may partially stem from a lack of understanding of what is involved in the work of tradespeople.  Sometimes we do a little fix-it work around our own homes and figure that it’s not that hard.  We watch tradespeople on TV who make their work look easy, and think, “Oh, well I could do that.”  But it actually only looks easy, and that’s because they know what they’re doing!

I suspect that there’s actually a deeper and broader pattern of thinking that’s at work here, and it needs to change, soon.

There is a lack of respect for the construction trades because of the push by schools to get kids to college.  Somehow, attaining a 4-year college degree has become the only respected post-high-school option for many kids.  It may be the only avenue they hear about from their guidance counselors and parents.

In the Denver Post on February 20, 2011, a guest writer, high school teacher Michael Mazenko wrote:

“…schools keep pushing the college-for-all mentality.  The education system should promote the trades and skilled labor as much as it does academics and bachelor’s degrees, and education at all levels should become more experiential and skill-based.”

“This conclusion is supported by the recently released Harvard study that concluded not all kids should go to college – or at least not a four-year university in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.  The aptly titled report ‘Pathways to Prosperity’ recommends a new direction for education reform, based on the practical needs of students and the economy.”

Not every teenager really wants to have a career that requires a 4-year-college diploma.  But there is pressure from society to go get that college diploma, or else he may be considered to be not smart, or to be an underachiever.  Sometimes it works out, and the college student thrives, and ends up taking a career path that did require that college degree.  Sometimes it doesn’t work out, the student struggles or hates college, or just wonders why he’s there, AND has student loan debt to deal with after the inevitable drop out of college.

Maybe it made sense to keep pushing oneself through college in the days when a 4-year-college degree guaranteed a job.  But today, when a college degree guarantees little more than loads of student loan debt for many, if someone’s not cut out for college, it doesn’t make sense to go.

If alternative education paths, and alternative career paths, were considered to be acceptable, and respectable, by a greater percentage of people in the U.S., we’d have fewer kids dropping out of college, and maybe we’d even have fewer kids dropping out of high school.  We’d surely have more, and better-trained, construction tradespeople.  They’d get their educations in trade schools or two-year technical college programs, and on the job.  While in high school, they’d have a better understanding of how their class subject matter will be used in their careers.

I’m lucky to have known since I was 12 years old what I wanted to do for a living.  Some people my age still aren’t sure…  If young people are exposed to more options at a young age, options for careers, not just options for more education, they may be as lucky as I was, and be able to live through the rest of their formal educational lives with clear goals in sight.

Another surprising and great piece of information from Michael Mazenko’s piece addresses wages:

“In a study of Florida college graduates, the earnings discrepancy between two-year programs and bachelor degrees is a revelation.  Five years out of school, the average trade school or community college graduate makes $47,000 per year compared to bachelor degree holders who average $36,000.  School administrators, counselors, and education reformers are being disingenuous if they fail to promote this information to students and parents.  By not offering advice on students’ realistic prospects for college degrees and marketable skills, schools are setting up too many kids for failure.”

And, from the Harvard “Pathways to Prosperity” study:

“There will …be a huge number of job openings in so-called blue-collar fields like construction, manufacturing, and natural resources, though many will simply replace retiring baby boomers.  These fields will provide nearly 8 million job openings, 2.7 million of which will require a post-secondary credential.  In commercial construction, manufacturing, mining and installation, and repair, this kind of post-secondary education—as opposed to a B.A.—is often the ticket to a well-paying and rewarding career.”

These post-secondary credentials mentioned above include 2-year associate’s degrees and occupational certificates.  A four-year-college degree is not required for any of these 8 million job openings, and only a high school degree is required for over 5 million of these jobs.

If this pattern of “college-for-all thinking” doesn’t change, these jobs will be tough to fill with qualified, properly trained, people.  I see a future with a large percentage of new construction being pretty bad, and a very small percentage of new construction being good, but very expensive.  There just won’t be enough skilled tradespeople to go around, so those with the skills will become very expensive and very much in demand.  (And how will they have the time to train the skilled tradespeople of the future?)

Well, maybe that’ll be the way to engender the respect that is due…  If the U.S. won’t learn the easy way, by reading studies and making some changes in our patterns of thinking, maybe we’ll learn the hard way – by experiencing even higher financial costs of good quality construction, and the less-measurable costs of living with poor quality construction.  I’ve seen and lived with both.  I’ve seen good work in action, and I’ve seen bad work in action.  I highly respect the good work of good tradespeople!  Now if we can just get the rest of the U.S. to think this way, we can have a brighter economic future, and a better built environment.

Unknown's avatar

what an “outline specification” REALLY is…..

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I prepare architectural specifications for a lot of school construction projects.  At the Design Development phase, we’re usually contractually obligated to deliver “outline specifications”… but I’m not sure that everyone involved knows what those are.  By everyone, I mean the architect, the engineers, and even (gasp!) the owner’s project manager.  (Oh, yes, an owner’s project manager once said to me at DD, “These sections are just one page.”)

School district projects that I’ve worked on require that at DD, the design team submit “outline specifications that identify major materials and systems and establish in general their quality levels.”  At CD, they usually require “specifications setting forth in detail the quality levels of materials and systems and other requirements for the construction of the Work.”  This language is from the AIA B101, Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect.  If the architect’s (or prime consultant’s) agreement with the owner actually calls for “outline specifications,” then the architect should make sure that his agreements with his consultants also actually call for “outline specifications.” 

The school districts, and many other owners, don’t want detailed specifications at DD.  They want more general, outline specifications which don’t have details and installation requirements like 3-part specifications do.  I personally prefer outline specifications (non-detailed specifications) at DD for all the same reasons that I believe owners do – they are easy to get fully correct and coordinated, and they are easy to read and understand (for owners and contractors and the entire design team), therefore they are very useful, 1) for pricing, 2) for demonstrating to the owner the scope of work, and 3) for design team coordination.  DD specs, just like DD drawings, should not be progress sets or snapshots of CD sets in progress.  They need to be their own finished, complete, stand-alone thing, especially when they are to be used by an estimator for pricing.

An excerpt from the Construction Specification Institute’s The Project Resource Manual:

“Outline specifications include information about manufacturers, materials, manufactured units, equipment, components, and accessories.  They also describe material mixes, fabrications, and finishes, along with installation, erection, and application procedures.  Only a few items from PART 1 GENERAL of SectionFormat are necessary in outline specifications. Reference standards involving products and installation may be listed. Special submittal requirements beyond the norm, such as unusual samples, mock-ups, special testing requirements, and maintenance materials, should be listed.  Special qualifications for manufacturers, fabricators, or installers may also be included, as well as a description of any extended or special warranty requirements.  Include fabrication and workmanship requirements only when such information has an impact on product or installation grades, cost, or time scheduling. Architectural Woodwork Institute (AWI) grade levels, for example, have cost ramifications and should be identified.

“Outline specifications aid in the design process and help form the basis for revised cost estimates and schedules.  As the design process continues, they become the basis for preparation of the project specifications.  Outline specifications serve as a checklist for the project team for choosing products and methods for later incorporation into the project manual.  Properly developed outline specifications establish criteria for the final contract documents. They also help to eliminate fragmented decision making, which can affect previous decisions and cause unnecessary changes and extra work. MasterFormat Division numbers and titles are the recommended basis for organizing outline specifications.”

My approach for outline specifications is to indicate what products and materials are to be incorporated into the project, and indicate anything about them, that we already know, that affects pricing.  For example, if I already know that the owner only wants to allow a few specific manufacturers for a certain product, I will indicate those manufacturers.  If the owner or design team has no preference for manufacturers at DD, I will not list any manufacturers.  If we already know some product options that will be used, I will indicate those.  If we know finishes, I will include those.  If we don’t know finishes, I won’t guess – I just won’t indicate finishes.  If there are special or unusual installation requirements, I will indicate those.  I will not mention typical installation requirements in an outline spec. (“Lay out tiles from center marks established with principal walls, discounting minor offsets, so tiles at opposite edges of room are of equal width.  Adjust as necessary to avoid using cut widths that equal less than one-half tile at perimeter.” is a pretty typical VCT installation instruction that I will always include in specs at CD, but will never include in an outline spec at DD.)  If we know that carpet will be installed by direct glue down method, I will indicate that, but will not mention specific installation requirements for that method.  I will list any special submittal requirements, and requirements for mock-ups, but will not indicate that product data is to be submitted, because that doesn’t affect pricing.

I am not an estimator, but if I were a project manager at a construction company doing CMGC on a project, and I were going to be the person doing CD project management as well as DD estimating, the last thing in the world that I would want to receive at DD is a partially-edited, partially incorrect 3-part full length spec.  There are a few reasons for this.  1) A spec with lots of detail implies that decisions regarding these details have actually been made, and that the spec reflects design decisions.  Design professionals know that we often haven’t actually made these decisions at DD, so any detailed spec (or drawing) is likely to change before 100% CD.  2) Partially-edited documents are difficult to wade through, and difficult to extract useful information from. 3) I might be spending a lot of time getting a pretty exact price on a detailed thing (that is going to change), when it might actually be a lot more productive (and fruitful) at DD to spend a lot less time, and assign a price range to the item.  (I don’t know about this for certain – I guess I need to learn more about how estimators work.  But this is an educated guess, based on my own work using detailed information from drawings that look like all the design decisions have been made, and preparing a spec section based on that, only to find out that it was a detail taken from another project, put in a set to make it look more complete, and I have to start all over again later, when the design decisions have actually been made!!)

We, as design professionals, have to keep in mind what is to be done with our documents.  They aren’t merely “deliverables” that are due to our clients.  They are to be used – at DD they’re to be used for pricing and design team coordination.  At CD, they’re to be used for constructing.

MasterSpec master outline spec sections can be purchased from Arcom at www.arcomnet.com .  Once you’ve gathered all the design decision information you need, it doesn’t take too long to complete an outline set.  Or, of course, a full length section could be edited down to be just an outline, but a one-year license for an outline spec library at a cost of several hundred dollars has a pretty quick payback, compared to the hours spent editing full length sections down… 

Now, the question of whether outline specifications are useful documents is a question that many specifiers have been asking lately.  Many prefer Preliminary Project Descriptions at DD.  But that’s a topic for another day.  This is just all about what we, as the design team, are supposed to deliver to the owner when our contracts require “outline specifications!”  Here’s hoping that I never have another owner’s project manager wondering why my spec sections at DD are only one page long…

Unknown's avatar

More on CSI Exams (Because this is SO important)

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There are some excellent posts on a CSI LinkedIn Group discussion.  I’m going to quote them here, since not everyone can see that discussion. 

Robert Johnson posted a quote from Kevin Phillips, who wrote about a time when he was starting his first intern job:

“About a month after I started my employment, I took my CDT (Construction Documents Technology) exam offered through CSI. This was my first introduction to CSI. I passed my exam and received a certificate as a Construction Documents Technologist. Studying and taking that exam opened my eyes to a whole new world. I learned so much about construction documents and the industry as a whole. I felt that I had a HUGE advantage over my peers because I learned much more about the industry than they had…in a short period of time.”  (Kevin Phillips)
 
And I wrote a follow-up:

“The SHORT PERIOD OF TIME is key. A lot of architects think that learning about construction contract administration has to be EITHER a ‘baptism by fire,’ OR ELSE a decade-long apprentice period involving a lot of copying over of someone else’s shop drawing review notes. 

“There is a third option – study for the CDT exam (in conjunction with a little baptism by fire and some copying over of shop drawing review notes) – and you’ll have such a greater understanding of what your role is as the architect on a construction project, in a MUCH shorter period of time than it takes others who don’t take the CDT!”  (Liz O’Sullivan)

Robert Johnson followed up:

“I agree with Liz about the basic knowledge that the CDT education course will give you about contract administration – the roles of each of the elements of the contract documents and the basic roles and responsibilities of the participants during the construction stage.

“Taking the CCCA education course after CDT will carry that to a much further depth. You will now learn more detailed information about the roles and responsibilities of the owner, contractor, and design professional during each of the activities of the construction period. This will include preconstruction submittals, preconstruction meetings, submittals, meetings, closeout submittals, site visits, quality assurance and quality control, interpretations, substitutions, claims and disputes, measurement and payment, and project closeout to name some of the topics.

“As with other similar areas, you can take the long and painful route of learning from your experiences without any education to go with it. The quality of the resulting education will relate to the quality and knowledge of your mentors and how comprehensive your experience is in terms of involvement in all the construction period activities, types of projects, types of project delivery, etc.

“The CCCA education will make your experience much more fruitful and better prepare you for new unexperienced situations in the future. The combination of a good education and experince can’t be beat! If you have contract administration responsibilities and don’t take the CCCA education course, you are shortchanging yourself.”  (Robert Johnson)

Here’s a link to the members-only discussion.  If you’re a CSI member, you can become a member of the group. http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&discussionID=40132348&gid=706547&commentID=30710997&trk=view_disc

Unknown's avatar

CSI can help you put yourself in the shoes of others… and achieve a smoother construction process.

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Spec writers joke about how one of our career requirements is the ability to read minds.  We are joking, of course, but sometimes we’re quicker to realize what the architect and the contractor are trying to communicate to each other, and we end up acting as translator between them.  Sometimes this can happen during construction; sometimes it can happen during construction documentation, when a contractor is part of the project team.

Why is it that some spec writers have this ability?  Perhaps it’s because so many of us have taken CSI Certification exams, and are active members of our CSI Chapters. 

CSI draws its membership from specifiers, architects, engineers, contractors, facility mangers, product representatives, manufacturers, and building owners.  So if you’re active in a Chapter, you get to know all kinds of people who use construction documents.  You get to know people outside your immediate field, who can be a tremendous help to you in your work.  For example, architects can get to know product representatives in a setting different from the typical “box lunch” presentation, or a meeting about a specific product for a specific project.  You can get to know people on a more personal professional level, outside the context of a specific product or specific task, and get an overall understanding of how that person does his or her job, and how that person can help you do your job.

There is SO MUCH to be gained from preparing for CSI Certification exams.  The CDT (Construction Documents Technologist) exam covers a wide base of knowledge about preparing, understanding, and interpreting construction documents, and the roles of different groups in the construction process, such as architect, owner, contractor, suppliers, and product representatives. 

When you better understand a team member’s role in your project, you can better communicate with that person.  If you can put yourself in the shoes of another construction project team member, you can have clearer documentation, better communication, and a smoother construction process.  CSI can help you do that.  You don’t even have to be a member to take a Certification exam. 

If you register by Friday, January 28, 2011, you get a discount on registration for CSI Certification exams.  Final deadline is Saturday February 26, 2011.  Exams are offered at computer testing centers between March 28 and April 9.  Check it all out at www.csinet.org/certification.

 

Unknown's avatar

Ummmm, What is He Thinking? AIA chief economist Kermit Baker suggests that architects should do what they do best—design—and hire paraprofessionals to do the rest.

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This month’s Architect Magazine has an article about using design “paraprofessionals,” written by the AIA’s chief economist, Kermit Baker. 

“AIA chief economist Kermit Baker suggests that architects should do what they do best—design—and hire paraprofessionals to do the rest. Try it. Your profitability might just skyrocket.” 

http://www.architectmagazine.com/business/add-a-layer-the-case-for-paraprofessionals.aspx

I think Mr. Baker is misguided, or misunderstands how our profession works.  Here’s my response, which I posted on the website.

“In this scenario utilizing paraprofessionals in architecture firms, who would train the interns?  What would they learn?

“Since interns who want to become licensed someday have to work under the direct supervision of licensed architects, what would they be learning if the licensed architects aren’t doing anything technical?

“The best way to learn how a technical detail is supposed to look is to draw that detail from scratch.  If interns never learn that, we would be very, very poorly training the future leaders of the firms.  What we are licensed to do is to design safe and sound buildings.  We are not licensed to just design whatever we want. A good start to designing safe and sound buildings is to understand building technology.  We are not training architecture students in building technology in architecture school, and if we stop training interns in building technology, we are headed for much tougher times for the profession.”

Medical students receive 2 years of clinical training, working in hospitals, while they’re in medical school, before they graduate as M.D.’s.  Architecture students have no official training working in architecture offices while they’re in school, but they don’t graduate as Architects.  They go to work as architectural interns after they graduate.  They receive their training on the job, before they’re allowed to sit for their licensing exams and, if they pass their exams, become Architects.

In school, we do not train architecture students in what they need to know to become licensed.  If we quit training them them in technical matters on the job, how will they even become licensed?  And if they do become licensed, how will they be able to oversee the paraprofessionals working for them, if they actually have no technical understanding themselves?  Who will do the construction contract administration?  The licensed architects are the ones who need to seal the drawings and specifications.  The licensed architects are the ones with the professional liability and obligation to design safe and sound buildings.  That’s what they are licensed to do.   

It’s not all about profitability.  Unless the system of architectural education and training completely changes, architects have an obligation to train interns in practical and technical matters.  We can’t shift that responsibility to paraprofessionals.  Soooo… if we have paraprofessionals doing the work that interns and young architects usually do, why would anyone hire an intern?  And if there are no interns, who will be the architects of the future?

Unknown's avatar

Need Under-Slab Vapor Retarder AND Under-Slab Void Forms?

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There’s not a lot of information out there about this topic (what to do when you need both an under-slab vapor retarder AND an under-slab void), probably because this situation is a regional condition.  Not every part of the United States has the expansive soils that parts of Colorado have. 

The first part – the voids: 

Expansive soils on project sites often prompt geotechnical engineers to recommend under-slab voids, which are created by placing concrete for slabs on top of void forms, also known as carton forms.  Yes, we actually call for wet concrete to be placed on top of cardboard boxes… but not directly on top of the cardboard boxes!

The cardboard void forms, which are in contact with the soil, absorb moisture from the soil and degrade over time, while the concrete slab stays in place, so a void space is created between the bottom of the slab and the top of the earth.  This void allows expansive soils to expand, or swell, without impacting the slab.

The second part – the vapor retarder:

We specify under-slab vapor retarders to prevent water vapor from migrating through the floor slab-on-grade and damaging moisture-sensitive floor coverings or moisture-sensitive equipment.  (We do this everywhere, not just in Colorado.)  Without a vapor retarder between the slab and the soil, water in the soil can travel through the slab in vapor form, and then it can condense and form into liquid water once inside the building, where it can cause damage. 

Now – put the voids and the vapor retarder together:

The requirement for an under-slab void on a project calls for slightly different vapor retarder requirements than we normally specify.  My article on how to deal with this situation is published on the Construction Specifications Institute Denver Chapter website.  Click the link below for the article.

http://www.denvercsi.org/journal/2010/12/8/when-both-a-vapor-retarder-and-an-under-slab-void-are-requir.html

Unknown's avatar

Words Matter… Especially in Contracts

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I am not an attorney, but once in a while, I look at contracts all day long.  Why would I do that to myself?  Because these documents directly affect my work of preparing architectural construction specifications.

The contract documents for a construction project include contracting forms (such as the owner-contractor agreement), conditions of the contract (such as AIA A201), the drawings, and the specifications.  These documents, all together, make up the contract.

These documents should not conflict.  All too often though, because different parties prepare different documents, conflicts occur.

The owner-contractor agreement may say one thing, and the conditions of the contract may say the opposite.  The conditions of the contract may say one thing, and a Division 1 specification section may say the opposite.  A Division 1 specification section may say one thing, and a technical section of the specifications may say the opposite.  The technical sections of the specifications may say one thing, and the drawings say the opposite.  I’ve even seen General Conditions directly conflict with Supplementary Conditions!

My attorney and insurance professional friends will happily tell you that when a contract is ambiguous, courts usually side against the party who drafted the contract.  What does that mean for design professionals?

We have to coordinate, coordinate, coordinate.  If the Owner prepares General Conditions, the person preparing the specifications needs to make sure the specifications are coordinated with the Owner’s General Conditions.  If AIA A201 General Conditions are used, and the Owner just prepares Supplementary Conditions, the person preparing the specifications needs to make sure the specifications are coordinated with the Owner’s Supplementary Conditions.  If the Owner prepares General Conditions, Supplementary Conditions, and Division 1, the person preparing the technical specifications needs to make sure that his work product does not conflict with the Owner’s documents.  To protect his firm, the person signing the Owner-Architect Agreement should make sure that the Owner’s General and Supplementary Conditions do not conflict with provisions in the Owner-Architect Agreement.

And the issue on my mind all day today?  If the Owner has a Guide Specification/Technical Specification/Specification Standards sort of document that he expects design professionals to adhere to when preparing drawings and specifications, this guide SHOULD NOT CONFLICT with the Owner-prepared General Conditions and Supplementary Conditions.  Ah, yes, this should go without saying… However, I have spent days of my career as an architectural specifications consultant trying to coordinate conflicts among Owner-generated documents to make sure that the work I produce does not conflict with any other contract documents.

Again, I am not an attorney, but I have a feeling that uncoordinated Owner-prepared documents increase our risk as design professionals.  We have to produce coordinated documents, no matter what our Owner clients give us.  Every word matters!