Blog Archives

The Power of Approval

If your experience with construction contract administration is like that of many, you may think of it as “being jerked around” more than “administering”. You may be confounded by a flood of RFIs and feel you are unable to do

Posted in Construction Administration, Project Management

The Importance of Coordination in Architecture and Engineering Work

Professional liability insurance companies repeatedly report that coordination issues are a major cause of legal claims against design professionals. A Merriam-Webster definition of coordination includes the following: 1) the process of organizing people or groups so that they work together

Posted in Practice Management, Project Administration, Project Management

In a punch list inspection, look for the missing

Project punch lists can grow into volumes of pages listing paint blemishes, scuff marks, and bits of dust, while neglecting to note significant missing items. On one project the punch list team had tagged and noted as many as 20

Posted in Construction Administration

The Best Mediation Turns the Page

Several years ago I participated in a mediation related to a commercial building which had been plagued by persistent roof leaks over a period of more than 5 years since its construction. The owner had grown exasperated by having to

Posted in Building Repair, Project Administration, Project Management

Planning Construction Site Visits

Construction activities and materials change with stages of construction, so it is useful to consider the activities and products you should expect to see on a given site visit before you go. If, like most construction administrators, your job is

Posted in Construction Administration, Practice Management, Project Administration, Project Management

Planning a School Renovation Project

Renovation projects may look easy if the folks who normally use the building are gone. School renovation projects are usually not that way. More often, design and construction have to account for ongoing occupancy and school operations during the course

Posted in Design, Project Administration, Project Management

Spec Writer = Information Manager

A comment from Sheldon Wolfe RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CSC on The Role of the Spec Writer got me thinking about how, in today’s world of design and construction, the spec writer really is an information manager. Although spec writers

Posted in Design, Practice Management, Project Management, Specifications

The Rise of Manufactured Systems in Architectural Design

One of the many things that have changed in the practice of architecture during the last 50 years is our dependence on manufactured building systems. Architectural education and training 50 years ago included the detailed design of components like windows,

Posted in Construction Documents, Design, Practice Management, Specifications

The Role of the Spec Writer

Reading recent grumblings by specifications (spec) consultants, I started thinking back over the roles of the spec writers at firms where I have worked since I began my architectural career in the 1960s. Spec writing and related technologies have changed

Posted in Construction Documents, Design, Practice Management, Project Administration, Project Management, Specifications

Cathedral Ceiling Woes

Insulating a cathedral ceiling with fiberglass batts and ventilating the same framing spaces does not work very well where framing spaces are interrupted by framing offsets, skylights, chimneys, or other penetrations, or where the roof framing changes direction or is

Posted in Construction Documents, Design

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