All posts in Request for Information

in category Architects, Certificate for Payment, Change Orders, General Contract Administration, Request for Information, Schedule of Values, Submittals, Supplemental Instruction, Transmittals and 0 comments.

Process is the answer, now what’s the question?

Have you ever had to deal with:

  • Marking up a set of drawings, only to find out that really basic information is missing time after time; North arrows, references, sheet titles not matching the index page?
  • Each employee re-inventing the wheel or doing it their own way when it comes to contract administration forms? Everyone having their own special template or spreadsheet tracking system?
  • Looking for information on the office server, only to find out that it was saved locally on a personal computer and that the employee is not around when you need it?

Read More…

in category Architects, Change Orders, Contractor, Dispute resolution, General Contract Administration, Request for Information and 0 comments.

Can’t agree?

The renovation of a heritage building started with preparations to demolish some walls to accommodate a new room layout. Unfortunately, during the preparations the general contractor discovered that the building structure had deteriorated to the point where there would be serious structural problems if  the walls were removed.

This discovery would result in additional construction costs, and delay the project completion date. The architect with the consultant team drafted a Proposed Change Order. The general contractor provided a very expensive quote for the  work of the change, and a notice in writing of a delay claim.  The owner responded that he could not accept any change in the schedule and that the proposed change order quote was crazy and bordered on extortion!

What would you do, if you had a dispute that looked like it could not be resolved? There are 2 possible strategies that you could use. Read More…

in category Certificate for Payment, Change Orders, Request for Information and 0 comments.

Organized change: change orders to requests for information

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Early in my career I felt that organization would destroy my creativity. Whereas now, I feel the opposite. Discipline is the foundation that allows you to be creative” – Verna Gibson

No matter what anyone says, chances are pretty good that there will be changes in a Project, and that at the end of the day it will cost more.  So you want to be sure that you have up to date and organized records of any changes and or issues that arise during construction. This will help to prevent finger pointing at the end of the project, and assist in settling any disputes that may arise. Read More…

in category General Contract Administration, Request for Information and 0 comments.

RFI’s – Five elements of style

pen paperLooking at the construction drawings by some favorite historic architects like CFA Voysey, or Edwin Lutyens, it is hard to believe how a builder back then would be able to price and construct a building using only a plan, partial section, elevation and a detail or two. Did they use RFI’s?

An RFI (request for information) by a builder from that era probably took the form of a formal letter containing fundamental information such as: sender’s address, recipient’s address, date, subject, salutation, body, closing, enclosures, carbon copy (CC) and typist’s initials. (Do they still teach  proper letter format in school with the advent of email?) Read More…