Masonry Magazine March 1978 Page. 10
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY STUDY
continued from page 9
asked later in the questionnaire about the actual need for architects to produce more accurate drawings, responses were not as dramatic as expected. Less than half of the total group saw a great need here, and only a few more than half (58%) of the general contractors expressed a strong need for improvement in drawings. That, of course, is not insignificant. It is simply not as impressive a finding as expected.
"How great is the need for architects to produce clearer, more accurate drawings?"
| | Arch. (16) | Engr. (5) | Gen. (26) | Sub. (61) | Mech. (11) | Ba. (11) | Total (161) |
|---------------|------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|
| Very great | | | | | | | |
| Considerable | 31% | | 58% | 46% | 54% | 36% | 43% |
| Moderate | 50 | 60 | 19 | 38 | 27 | 36 | 37 |
| Some/Little | 19 | 20 | 23 | 13 | 18 | 18 | 16 |
THE CONSTRUCTION PHASE
All groups, except architects, agreed that better results occur when owners have their own engineering staffs who meet with general contractors throughout the course of large projects. Here is the picture:
"On bigger projects, a better job results when the user (owner) has his own engineering staff who meet regularly with the general contractors."
| | Arch. (16) | Gen. (26) | Sub. (61) | Mech. (11) | Own. (20) | Total (161) |
|-------------------|------------|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|
| Strongly Agree | | | | | | |
| Agree | 6% | 12% | 8% | 9% | 65% | 18% |
| Disagree | 31 | 58 | 48 | 64 | 35 | 49 |
| Strongly Disagree | 44 | 19 | 31 | 9 | | 21 |
| | 13 | | | | | 1 |
Note that the owners unanimously agreed with the position, while only 37% of the architects did. General contractors, who are directly involved in the arrangement described, substantially agreed (70%) that owners should work closely with them on large projects.
All groups, except architects, also expressed a great
MCAA SUMMER
EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING
need for architects to strengthen their field representatives' knowledge of construction. Relationships between architects' field representatives and contractor job superintendents were mentioned often in the interview phase of the study as a source of difficulty on construction sites. Here are the results on the question:
"How great is the need for architects to strengthen their field representatives' knowledge of construction (limitations, tolerances, etc.)?"
| | Arch. (16) | Gen. (26) | Sub. (61) | Mech. (11) | Ba. (11) | Own. (20) | Total (161) |
|---------------|------------|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-----------|-------------|
| Very great | | | | | | | |
| Considerable | 31% | 77% | 64% | 45% | 54% | 65% | 58% |
| Moderate | 25 | 15 | 21 | 27 | 27 | 10 | 20 |
| Some/Little | 44 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 9 | 5 | 13 |
On a final topic, contractors and others saw a need for architects to speed up change order processing.
"How great is the need for architects to speed up change order processing (shop drawings) so that the tempo of projects is maintained?"
| | Arch. (16) | Gen. (26) | Sub. (61) | Mech. (11) | Own. (20) | Total (161) |
|---------------|------------|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|
| Very great | | | | | | |
| Considerable | 38% | 88% | 70% | 91% | 55% | 69% |
| Moderate | 38 | 12 | 16 | | 25 | 19 |
| Some/Little | 25 | | | | 15 | 5 |
Also on change orders, there were two other items in the questionnaire. The first asked what effect change orders have on a job. In response, 54% of the total study group said that change orders have a negative effect. Seventeen percent said the effect was positive, while 24% said that change orders have little effect one way or the other.
The other question asked whether people thought change orders were good for contractors because of the money they make on changes. This was an interesting question which provoked interesting answers.
"It has been said that change orders are usually good for contractors because of the money they make on changes. How much do you agree with this statement?""
| | Arch. (16) | Gen. (26) | Sub. (61) | Mech. (11) | Own. (20) | Total (161) |
|-------------------|------------|-----------|-----------|------------|-----------|-------------|
| Strongly Agree | | | | | | |
| Agree | 25% | | 3% | | 15% | 7% |
| Disagree | 44 | 12 | 46 | 45 | 45 | 40 |
| Strongly Disagree | 19 | 65 | 34 | 36 | 30 | 37 |
| | 13 | 23 | 8 | 18 | 5 | 11 |
The agreement/disagreement split was almost identical for the total study group-47% vs. 48%. But look what the general contractors had to say! Regardless of what others think, general contractors appeared not favorably disposed toward change orders.
SUMMARY
In conclusion, the study findings suggest that architects ought to:
►Make more use of information from general contractors at the design stage.
►Try to do a better job of anticipating problems in construction that might result from design features.
►Give some thought to how much they should work to improve the quality of drawings.
►Consider what. if anything, they should do to strengthen their field representatives' knowledge of constructions.
►Seek ways to speed change order processing.
10 MASONRY/MARCH, 1978