The Other Donald,
You make some good points. Personally, I have not had an issue with the Owner being a party to circumvent the A201 at the behest of an aggressive contractor although I have seen it. To a large extent, though, IMO Architects fail in their understanding of the A201 and Division 01, and do not enforce the Contract requirements. Frequently, the Architect fails to exert its authority, particularly small firm architects.
Yes, obtaining a valid and meaningful submittal schedule is difficult and obtaining it within the proscribed time is virtually impossible - the subcontracts may not even be bought out by then. That said, most such schedules are BS, and must be rejected until they reflect an orderly and logical progression. More attention to the requirements of this important schedule must be given in the Contract Documents.
The submittal schedule is also an important tool for fighting delay claims. For example, if a GC is late in making its submittal and, therefore, is late in ordering materials, that can be a counter argument when the GC later claims a delay for an issue related to that product. Had the submittal been made timely, the issue is likely to have been discovered earlier, mitigating any claimed delay.
The failure is on the contractors, subs, and suppliers but our profession is not doing a good job in enforcing contract requirements which, in turn, is exacerbating the problem. I see the deer in the headlights look when I require contractors to actually perform the PM tasks that are standard to most construction contracts. Also, the issue is not just submittals, as it pertains to schedules, documentation on costs for changes, etc., etc.
Mark I. Baum, Architect, AIA
Principal
Mark I. Baum Architect LLC
M 504.330.8782
markb@MIBArch.comwww.MIBArch.com
Original Message:
Sent: 11/4/2023 8:14:00 AM
From: Donald E. Reszel AIA
Subject: RE: Construction Market Conditions - Labor Force and Knowledge
Mark,
The real root problem lies on the onus with the GC’s that don’t read the spec and communicate to their subs their general conditions, including how to simply process submittals. This is because they may have contractually allowed themselves to do so with the Owner / Contractor contract.
You’ve identified the right process the architect takes by including all the Submittal instructions in the Contract Documents project manual. The Submittal process (including submittal schedule requirements) is also included in the Architect / Owner A201 General Conditions. This document frequently gets passed over during the Owner / Contractor agreement, at times are rewritten for the GCs benefit, eliminating any references to the A/O 201 General Conditions. How often are architects privy to reviewing the Owner / Contractor contract prior to the Owners signing off on their contract terms? Very seldom. How often have you received a Submittal Schedule at the 10th day after the Owners NTP? If so it’s never adhered to for many GC reasons in material costs, availability, contract with subs and so forth.
What has become a bigger problem is that the GC tends to have the ear of the Owners more so than the architects, in pleading their case for material changes, construction methods, cost savings areas, substitutions and deductions, value engineering and on and on, giving them a hero’s leg up in the owners eye during PreCon and ultimately the Construction stage in building their project.
This sets the stage for the GC to feel free to get by with less effort in many areas (submittals included) , for the benefit of the GC’s bottom line profit margin.
Thank you for any reply.
The Other Donald
Sent from my iPhone
Original Message:
Sent: 11/2/2023 7:10:00 PM
From: Mark I. Baum AIA
Subject: RE: Construction Market Conditions - Labor Force and Knowledge
Good idea but the root of the problem is also with the subcontractors and suppliers. Obtaining performance at all levels is virtually impossible.
Mark I. Baum, Architect, AIA
Principal
Mark I. Baum Architect LLC
M 504.330.8782
markb@MIBArch.com
www.MIBArch.com
Original Message:
Sent: 11/2/2023 6:44:00 PM
From: Donald A. Koppy AIA
Subject: RE: Construction Market Conditions - Labor Force and Knowledge
Consider adding in your Division 01 specifications (Section 011000* or 013000*) a qualification that the Construction Manager's Project Coordinator or the Contractor's Project Administrator have at least a Construction Document Technologist (CDT), or better yet Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) certification from CSI.
(When you ask for their certification at project kickoff meeting, you'll quickly find out if they even read Division 01 :-)
Until Architects demand this, we'll all continue to waste time in the CA phase training them.
And by the way, it would be good to get yours too!
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Donald Koppy , CSI, CCS, CDT, AIA, NCARB
Mead & Hunt
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-01-2023 05:54 PM
From: Daniel Piper
Subject: Construction Market Conditions - Labor Force and Knowledge
I agree completely. I feel as if every project that starts construction I need to educate the construction team how to number submittals, how to route submittals, that they need to actually review a submittal (not just rubber stamp it and pass it through), how to write an RFI that makes sense to the receiver (and why that is important), etc. The list is endless. I do not see this improving either. Unfortunately while the era of "electronic" submittals has helped us all, there are facets of this that need to be fixed.
I would love to hear how others are dealing with this problem - I cannot believe it is only happening to us.
Dan Piper, Principal, Construction Administration
The Preston Partnership, LLC
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Daniel Piper AIA, Principal, Construction Administration
The Preston Partnership LLC
Atlanta, GA
Original Message:
Sent: 10-31-2023 02:47 PM
From: Shaili Patel
Subject: Construction Market Conditions - Labor Force and Knowledge
Over the past few years, the lack of skilled labor and knowledge gaps in the construction field have affected A/E professionals. Does it seem like more time, effort, and energy is spent hand-holding, explaining, and at times even mentoring construction staff? How are others dealing with this, especially in regard to keeping up the quality of work while staying within allocated hours?
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Shaili Patel AIA
Colby Company Engineering
Rochester NH
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