Masonry Magazine August 2000 Page. 25
The many failings of the contracting community, but that's not where I'm going with this piece. Rather, I'd like to address a larger and what I believe is a more looming danger to our industry: communication... communication that I watch degrade and disintegrate on an almost daily basis between the building and design professions. More and more, it seems that all I do is lock horns with architects or engineers over issues that (most often) end up being paltry, petty, ego-laden arguments that inevitably offer little good and offer little assistance to the fulfillment of our (supposedly) collective, ultimate goal: the delivery of a quality-constructed, cost-effective, and punctually-built project to the owner.
QUESTIONS
This breakdown in communication concerns me. In the building industry, communication is critical to efficiency. So, before the situation erodes further, let's take a moment to examine the contractor-architect relationship, as it happens in a typical competitive-bid situation, and explore some possible reasons why the architect and contractor often don't find themselves communicating on the same level. Let's begin our discussion by posing a couple of questions:
1. In a typical construction project, aren't the contractor and architect on the same team?
2. What hampers communication between the architect and contractor?
Well, certainly if the answers were simple there'd be no need for this discussion. But they're not. As a matter of fact, they can grow downright complex so let's break down our argument into manageable components. Now, it's important to state that admittedly my thoughts and reflections spring from a contractor's point of view. A design professional will almost certainly see the matter in a different light. But in an effort towards enlightenment, someone has to start, so let's examine the contractor/architect relationship... and explore some of the ways we communicate (and don't communicate) with one another.
THE CONTRACTOR (And the Importance of Being First)
Let's look at the contractor. Now, when I say contractor, I'm referring to general contractors, sub-contractors, some suppliers (who install their own products)... and pretty much anybody who performs the physical construction of a project. They're the one's who get their hands dirty; who interpret the working drawings and specifications; and who in the overall time-line on the project are the last one's to arrive at the party.
What do I mean? Well, it goes like this: in the typical competitive-bid scenario, the owner of the project probably first came up with the idea. He's hosting the party, so he's first. Next, an architect is brought in and after some negotiation a deal is struck between those two parties. The architect is the second one to arrive at the party and now represents the owner. They basically become co-players; team members. So far, so good.
The contractor has yet to come on board. The owner and architect conceive a strategy and the architect prepares the bidding documents (the plans and specifications). Much of the specification particularly division 1- "General Requirements" is pre-conceived and is merely adapted to the project. This includes legal documents, agreements, indemnifications, and jargon (formed over the years) that is slanted (in my opinion, arrogantly) toward the architect and owner and away from the contractor.
All of this bidding information is assembled and delivered to the bidding contractors as basically a "take it or leave it" ultimatum. The contractor, in order to generate enough proposals required to secure the necessary amount of revenue (in the form of construction work) to support his
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