Well - that suggests many issues. As with any service, a defined scope is critical if you wish to control your contribution to the relationship and if you wish to keep the respective parties where they really need to be. In addition, it becomes very easy in the course of a working relationship to allow informality to creep in. A good relationship requires not only the scope definition but the discipline to adhere to your scope and the ability to defer to others and permit them to do likewise.
In general there are no legal "limits" but the best practice is to keep the Architect of Record in the loop on all decisions (from your description it sounds like the Owner's rep is issuing what the AIA documents would call an "Order for Minor Change in the Work") so that there is one repository of any and all modifications to the design information. Respect would also suggest that the Owner's rep should issue those things only after at least conferring in some manner with the Architect of Record. We all have cell phones in our pockets anymore - that should not be a difficult undertaking (making certain of course to follow up with appropriate documentation).
That all said, I hear the "pulling one's seal" debate often. Understand that most municipalities will not permit that. Once you submit the documents they become public record, and under the law in most states they can not be, for lack of a better term, "retrieved". If you feel that the work is deviating from the approved documents in a manner that compromises the integrity of the work (something that probably should not be exercised exclusively for aesthetic reasons) then you probably do have an obligation to approach the building official with that information. How to address it is the building official's decision - not the Architect's.
Understand that you have some obligation to the general public in terms of code compliance and the safety for users of the ultimate work (not during the construction absent some extraordinary circumstances). What your seal attests to is the
documents are your professional work product - i.e.; that they were prepared by you or under your direct supervision, and they reflect your professional judgment. That does not translate into a representation regarding the construction - if the construction proceeds in some manner contrary to the documents, and you know about it, you may have an obligation to alert the building official, but "pulling your seal" is likely not an option. The documents are still your professional work product and they still represent your professional judgment regarding the
design. I certainly would not recommend threatening to do so (as you may well find you can't such that any threat is an empty threat anyway), and if you find yourself in a position where you think you might like to do so then you probably need to seek qualified legal assistance from an Attorney knowledgable in the law in your particular state.
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Frederick Butters FAIA, Esq.
Attorney
AIA Detroit
Southfield MI
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