From: Phil Diekemper, Executive Director – PRO: An ACI Center of Excellence for Advancing Productivity 

Poorly coordinated and/or incomplete design drawings result in inaccurate bids, and they force contractors to complete the needed coordination and design through multiple requests for information (RFIs). The disjointed process leads to delays, added costs, change orders, and a general dissatisfaction with the completed project.

A set of documents that is complete and coordinated before construction is essential for achieving productivity. In 2023, FMI Corporation released a labor productivity study. According to the 2023 FMI Labor Productivity Study, “4 of 5 Contractors said low-quality design/construction documents (plans and specs) are a top external factor stunting productivity.”1

While design team members use their education and experience to translate architectural concepts into a constructable format, construction team members use their knowledge and experience to construct the project with a focus on cost and schedule. The design process may include the evaluation of a variety of concepts and solutions. The construction process typically seeks maximum productivity. Changes during construction caused by incomplete and/or poorly coordinated documents are not good for a contractor’s productivity.

In 2020, ASCC conducted a Constructability Survey. The ASCC survey indicated that the No. 1 barrier to constructability was a lack of completeness of drawings, with the coordination of drawings second and the coordination of drawings and specifications third. Concrete embedded items from specialty structural engineers (for example, cladding) need to be provided and coordinated by the structural engineer of record (SER), even though those details are often provided during the concrete construction phase. Beware of standard details. Standard details can be added to the drawings without much thought and often conflict with the designers’ intent or other project-specific details. This can lead to ambiguity, conflicts, and change orders.

Designers face many pressures during the design process, and these can result in negative impacts on the constructability of the construction documents. These pressures include:

• Increased competition;
• Lower design fees;
• Accelerated design schedules;
• Increased architectural design complexity;
• Owner decision delays and changes;
• Delegation of responsibilities for design and coordination;
• Accelerated project delivery;
• Inability to retrain experienced staff and train the less experienced; and
• Increased reliance on design technology.

To address these concerns, many organizations, such as the Council of American Structural Engineers (CASE), Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), International Code Council (ICC), American Concrete Institute (ACI), and ASTM International, have published requirements and guides. I will touch on these in future newsletter articles.

Project owners should learn that low design fees, insufficient design time, and increased project complexity that prevent designers’ completion of needed document coordination and constructable designs ultimately increases project cost and time as an expense to the owner. Construction agreements have sprouted new language that exonerates designers while increasing contractor risks. Language that suggests the contractor’s estimate should anticipate and include the designer’s intent, not necessarily what is included or expressed in the documents. Does that include information not included or expressed? What are the limitations of such agreements? Such attempts to deflect responsibility to the concrete contractor become sources of conflict, disagreements, arbitration, and litigation.

Send your examples of these onerous agreements to Phil.Diekemper@concreteproductivity.com. PRO seeks to address incomplete and poorly coordinated construction documents, as well as deceptive agreements that are barriers to concrete construction productivity.

12023 FMI Labor Productivity Study