Author Archives: Liz O'Sullivan

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Respect for Application Instructions

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Despite the fact that application instructions are printed right on paint cans and bags of materials for stucco, manufacturers’ application instructions are often ignored.  This information is not a “recommendation,” but an actual “instruction.”

Is this widespread disregard for instructions a result of less respect (and less pay) for the work of construction tradespeople?  Or is it a result of peoples’ having less pride in their work? Or is this a result of less respect for the written word?  Or are that many kids actually not learning to read?

Although misapplication occurs most often in residential construction, commercial construction is not immune to this problem.

It’s 30 degrees Fahrenheit in Denver today.  This morning, my family and I drove by a property which has a new retaining wall adjacent to the sidewalk.  Two men were out on site applying a first coat of stucco to this new wall.

Except for a few specialized products intended for cold weather application, stucco is required to be applied when temperatures are warmer than 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and applied stucco must be protected from freezing temperatures for several days.  Stucco can fail if these application instructions aren’t followed.

Paint coats can fail if application temperature requirements aren’t followed.  Floor finishes can fail if underlayment application instructions aren’t followed.  Warranties for such products are automatically voided in cases of improper application.

As we drove by the house with the new wall, I said, “It’s too cold to apply stucco.”  My 7-year-old son responded, “Yeah, that’s not going to set right.”  Somehow, my 7-year-old knows this, but the guys out there doing the work either don’t know or don’t care.

Read the directions, people!  And show some pride in your work.

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Take the CDT exam!

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Do you produce construction documents (architects and engineers)?
 
Do you use construction documents (contractors)?

Do you do both?  (Assist in the production of construction documents, and comply with construction documents, the way product representatives do.)
 
I encourage you to take CSI’s CDT exam.

Although I was already a licensed architect with several years of construction contract administration experience when I took the CDT exam several years ago, studying for the exam rounded out my knowledge of the construction process, and filled in some gaps in my experience.  I had a number of “aha” moments.  My past experience informed my studying, and the things I learned from studying and testing have helped me to do my current work better. 

The Construction Specifications Institute administers this exam, the Construction Documents Technologist exam, twice a year.

Registration is open now for the spring exam.  go to CSI’s Website

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Business Structure

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I wrote a letter to the author of “Setting Up a Business Structure” in the September 26, 2010 Wall Street Journal Sunday in the Denver Post. 

In this time of high unemployment among architects, we don’t need any misinformation about setting up small businesses.

Dear Ms. Needleman,
 
LLC does not mean “limited liability corporation.”  LLC means “limited liability company.”  Your referring to LLC as “limited liability corporation” in today’s Wall Street Journal Sunday article is incorrect and could confuse people.
 
Your article also says that Marc Karell lost his unemployment benefits because of filing his new business as an LLC.
 
Don’t you think he would have lost those benefits by filing as a C-Corp or S-Corp or any other business that requires filing forms to create a new company?  I don’t think it’s the LLC structure itself that is to blame, but the setting up of his new business.
 
In Colorado, at least, if you set up your new business (with the state) as an LLC, you have to decide (for IRS purposes) whether you will be a corporation (S or C), or a partnership, or a sole proprietorship.  You don’t choose from the 5 choices you listed: S-Corp, C-Corp, partnership, sole proprietorship, or LLC.  You choose from the first 4.  You can also be an LLC in addition to one of the first 4, but you HAVE to be one of the first 4.
 
This second topic I’ve brought up may vary by state.  However, referring to LLC as “limited liability corporation” is a pretty big mistake. 
 
People need sources of information that they can trust.  I’m not an attorney or MBA or accountant – I’m just an architect, with a bachelor’s degree.  If I know this stuff, someone writing an article about it in the Wall Street Journal should know it better than I do, or should have done all the necessary research to verify its correctness, before going to print.
 
Liz O’Sullivan, Denver, Colorado

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More on boring buildings

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Following up on the post with the quote:
“Architecture should have the confidence and the kindness to be a little boring.” – Alain de Botton

Denver has lots of new buildings that are junk.  Our new art museum is an interesting, although not very functional building, that was either not designed well, or was not constructed well, because the roof has been recently replaced because of leaking.  A large ugly apartment building nearby, also new, has been shrouded in scaffolding and plastic, because of leaking at doors and windows and other major water problems.  Foundations on houses and condos all over the metro area crack like crazy because nobody analyzed the soils or nobody read the geotechnical report or somebody designed the foundations improperly.  Lawyers have a field day with these construction defects, or design errors or omissions.
 
Good technical details and execution of those details need to be a prerequisite, achieved before “interesting” can be attempted.  Here in Denver, that doesn’t always happen.  I’d like to see some boring buildings that stay weathertight for 50 years, instead of the attempts at “interesting” that need to be completely revamped because of some failure in design or construction.  Interesting can be good, AFTER the basics of sound construction are achieved.

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a little boring?

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My friend Lara posted this quote on her Facebook wall:

“Architecture should have the confidence and the kindness to be a little boring.” – Alain de Botton

I think it’s a poetic way to point out that if buildings are to work together to make up a successful city block, or a whole city, they need to defer to each other, to the pedestrian, and to the street.

A bunch of boring buildings that work well together make a much better city block than a bunch of buildings that are all screaming out to be noticed…

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More on the improper use of the word “architect”

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Below is some of what I posted on the Denver Post Online, regarding the improper use of the word “architect”:

People need to know that the Department of Regulatory Agencies of the State of Colorado has some statements about the legal use of the title “architect.”

From the DORA website http://www.dora.state.co.us/aes/licensing/licensure-arc.htm :

“The unlicensed practice of architecture and the improper use of the title ‘Architect’ or the word ‘Architect’ may constitute a violation of the Colorado Architect Law.”“Title 12, Article 25, Part 3 of the Colorado Revised Statutes (‘Architect Law’) creates the Board and grants it the authority to examine and license duly qualified applicants to practice architecture and use the title ‘Architect’ in Colorado.”

I believe that an education in architecture is a great background, one that translates easily into many fields of work.  But having a degree in architecture does not make someone an architect.  An architect’s training comes primarily from working under the direct supervision of a licensed architect.  That is why Colorado law (and the law in most other states) requires architecture school graduates to work under the direct supervision of a licensed architect for a certain number of years before being deemed eligible to take the licensing exam.  Only after passing the licensing exam and being registered in the State of Colorado is a person allowed to call himself an architect here. 

This is the reason that the media should not use the term “architect” as casually as it does.

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Improper use of the word “architect”

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The media is misusing the word “architect” again.  See the text of my Letter to the Editor of the Denver Post, below:

In the April 18, 2010 Denver Post article “Off the Grid,” the Post referred to Mr. Wayne Snider, the town manager of Fowler, as “architect of the project.”  Mr. Snider is not an architect.

Colorado law defines an architect as “a person licensed… and entitled thereby to conduct a practice of architecture in the state of Colorado.”  An architect is licensed by the State to perform the professional services of planning and design of buildings, preparation of construction contract documents including working drawings and specifications for the construction of buildings, and the observation of construction. 

The casual, improper use of the word “architect” dilutes the meaning of the word and misleads readers.  Please do not use the word “architect” to describe people who are not architects.

Liz O’Sullivan, AIA
Denver