When does our work stop? When are we really complete? As structural engineers our job is to analyze and design, produce drawings and specifications for a contractor to follow in order for the structure to do its job so that the project can come to life. The average client may consider not including us in the construction administration phase of the project, with all the City inspections, special inspections and testing that goes on, our participation is often seen as superfluous and unnecessary. It can be viewed as an opportunity to save costs. Clients expect the drawings to be complete, clear and easy enough to follow so that the need for our oversight should not be required. Certainly there are a number of factors that can contribute to the level of completeness of any given set of deliverables: unreasonable schedules, limited budgets, scope changes during design, lack of adequate coordination among consultants can be accounted as some of these.
As professionals we all strive to put together comprehensive and complete construction drawings and specifications. The level of detail that may be included however, may be limited by some of the constraints noted above. Still, even with an unlimited budget and all the time in the world, it is difficult for any engineer to guarantee that the construction documents are faultless, legible and self explanatory to the extent that it nullifies the need for our involvement during construction.
The truth is that in our business, unlike say the aviation industry, we don’t get to build a prototype and test it to iron out the bugs before it goes to market. Our prototype is the final product. As with all prototypes, there are bound to be elements that may not be completely thought out or may not work as well as intended. In fact, some elements may not work at all. Perhaps, the contractor, owner or someone else may come up with a better detail as the project is being built. In other words, the bugs are often worked out during construction. Our responsibility as engineers is to guide the process through its conclusion. When our prototype is finished and we can agree that it works as intended and we have ensured that all the aspects of our structural design have been implemented, only then can we consider that we are finished with the project.
The real issue is that we have grown accustomed to the language of our industry. We have accepted the compartmentalizing of the engineering process as the way to manage a given project. Project phasing is inherent in the design process, but we have taken that internal process and married it to the pricing structure thereby inviting the idea that any one phase of the project may be done without. This is why a client feels entitled to argue each phase individually which takes away from the overall process and dilutes reality.
We need to take a more holistic view of our design guidelines and project approach. The work needs to be viewed as one, not in phases. As such, the client may begin to gain an understanding of our true value and re-align their expectations with the realities of our process. A project is not complete until we can deliver to the client a total structure that meets the standards of the industry. In order to achieve this it needs to be clear that the requirements of the construction documents are not total until such time as we are through with all of the construction administration support to ensure that the structure is whole.
