Construction administration “CA” is one of those aspects of our profession that I would categorize as a necessary evil. CA is seldom easy, and usually challenging if not downright difficult. But, it’s a great learning experience. For young architects it can be an eye-opener as to the vagaries and vicissitudes of how a project gets built.
My best advice for attending a job meeting is: be prepared. Never go in cold. The best architects I know are always prepared for what they’re about to go into, whether it’s an office meeting, a jobsite meeting, or a client meeting. At the very least, stay current with the job meeting minutes, even if you’re not the one compiling them. Know what the active issues are. Stay abreast of the job meeting discussion. Take note of the construction schedule and if it’s being met – particularly if the project has multiple prime contracts. Keep attuned to the tenor of the discussion; by that I mean the drift, or the underlying direction and attitude. Each entity involved in the job has their own stake and agenda that they want to preserve and ensure. A project may have additional stakeholders beyond the owner/contractor/architect triad, such as a construction manager (CM), an owner’s representative, or an owner’s consultant, for example a building envelope specialist. Pay attention to what appears to be latent conflicts and how they get resolved. Cooperation and teamwork are key to keeping the job moving and producing a good project.
Stay current with submittals. Even if you’re not the one reviewing them, having a general awareness of the status of most submittals is useful, i.e. what are outstanding (still owed) from the contractor, what the architect owes, what the architect’s consultants owe. Read the front end of your specs! Division 01 Section “Submittal Procedures” will tell you how long each party has to process submittals.
You will see that a reciprocity exists between checking shop drawings and writing specs –you see how that item the project designer (or maybe it was you) selected really goes together, and that verbiage in the specs that made your eyes glaze over now begins to have some basis in reality. You see what you like and don’t like, and you can use that insight next time to craft the specification for that product more to the way you’d like to see it. This is obviously a relationship between submittals such as product data and specifications. But, again, it’s a way to learn. Verifying product options – as well as having to decide on options the specs may have missed – gives you a better sense of how to write a complete spec for the product. The overlooked, and unfortunately common, aspect of submittals is making sure the contractor has in fact submitted all of the information that the specification requires. A lot of times younger architects don’t think to check the spec section for the actual list of required submittals and simply accept what the contractor sends them. And the unfortunate truth is that some contractors will try to get away with not having to submit everything that the spec requires. Other times there may be a young project engineer on the contractor’s side that missed something required per the specification. Being thorough as you move through reviewing specifications is crucial for all parties.
Walking the site with an experienced architect can be a good lesson. If you find yourself doing a field visit without an experienced architect, take photos of the progress and conditions you seen that you want additional understanding. It is a way to review the progress with them, and learn from what you’ve seen. You will find that in most cases an architect will not comment on a construction condition such as a detail that needs to be resolved, or an unforeseen condition, until they’ve had time to review it first. This is where an ASI (Architect’s Supplemental Instructions, AIA Document G710) or a CCD (Construction Change Directive, AIA Document G714) come into play. If it’s a relatively simple situation involving clarification or a minor adjustment, the ASI will be used. If it’s a change that is going to involve contract money or time, then the CCD is used. The CCD is a precursor to a Change Order.
Pay attention to the conversation when there is an on-site meeting with a building product representative. Pay particular to attention to the product rep. The rep has to walk a fine line; on one hand wanting to support the contractor as the user of their product and hoping the contractor will continue to purchase the product, and on the other hand wanting to support the architect who has specified their product and hoping the architect will continue to specify the product. And yet ultimately it is the project owner who must be satisfied with the product. An experienced product rep can usually walk this line. A good rep will be honest and not prevaricate about the limitations of the product or if the installation is not in accordance with instructions.
Construction administration often takes place over a longer period of time than the actual design of the project. Most of the time the architect’s agreement with the owner includes CA services, and usually it represents about 20-35% of the architect’s fee. It behooves a young architect to become familiar with this aspect of the job early in one’s career and learn to handle it well. Understanding the relationship between specifications and construction administration will help to improve the CA experience.
It is also crucial for a young architect to have an understanding of where the projects you are staffed for are in terms of the design and/or construction phase. Sometimes the staffing in your office may miss that all three of your projects are in CA for long period of time. It can be overwhelming for a young architect to have multiple projects all under construction. By having a project in the earlier design phases while another is in CA is a great way for the professional to balance the pressures of CA and getting an opportunity to bring forward their creative mindset.
Bob Bailey, AIA, CSI, CCS, LEED AP
Associate, Specifications & Constructability Specialist at IKM in Pittsburgh