While attending an Ontario Structural Wood Association meeting in October – somewhat like attending an SBCA Chapter meeting – part of the discussion turned to the quality of house plans. After many years in this industry, I can tell you that this discussion wouldn’t have sounded much different twenty or even thirty years ago, but the points it raised remain relevant to this day.
Through my own direct experience working on plans, and from discussions with truss and component people over the years from across North America, I believe that poor-quality plans are a universal challenge that aren’t likely to go away anytime soon.
So, why are plans not prepared in such a way that they convey the information we need? And if they are never going to be “perfect,” what can we do to minimize our own risk and preserve productivity?
Of course, I’m not an architect, so these are my thoughts looking at it from the outside and from discussion with some forthcoming architects in the past. I will also add that much of this is related to custom home plans, although tract and multi-family plans often are just as problematic. I recall our company being involved in a 200+ unit development on Long Island, with a total value of ~$150 million at the time, where the developer refused to pay the architect a fee of $5,000 to correct and reissue some drawings. Over the course of construction, there were hundreds of phone calls and emails to repeatedly deal with questions that would have been resolved had the plans been corrected.
So, what are some of the current causes of this situation?
- Increased standardization – It is very quick and easy to pull a detail from a standard library and place it onto plans, even though it may lack information specific to the house.
- Focus on efficiency – The emphasis on getting drawings done quickly and minimizing costs can lead to reduced information provided on the plans.
- Market and customer pressure – Just as we are pressured to lower our truss or component supply costs, architects are faced with the same competitive pressures. A set of construction drawings that might have commanded a $4,000 architectural fee 10 years ago might now only earn $1,000.
By and large, I don’t believe that architects are intentionally providing less or lower quality information, but instead they are finding ways to remain profitable in a changing market. One of the ways they can do this is by having very generic notes and not spending too much time on job-specific details. It is then left to the various sub-trades, ours included, to resolve anything that is unclear. Ultimately, this results in the same, or even higher, cost to the end home buyer (but that is another discussion).
If your business mainly focuses on a relatively small number of clients that build essentially the same type of home repeatedly, then you may be able to talk to your builders and agree on how certain things will typically be done. Likely, this is something you have already done. The only thing I would add is that it would be best to get agreement in writing, just in case.
However, if your business is like what I have been involved with for most of my career, you may have dozens, if not hundreds, of custom home builders as the ultimate client for your product. Each of these builders will have their own customs, preferences, historical practices, etc. that influence how the house gets built. Even when working on plans from the same architectural office, with the same information, I’ve had two builders that chose to interpret the drawings differently in small but importantly different ways.
So, what can we do about this while maintaining some degree of sanity and productivity?
- Ask questions early – It may be tempting to leave detailed questions until you are preparing final drawings, but by then you are probably locked into a contract price that may not properly reflect what is wanted.
- Develop easily interpreted details that you can send out – An example might be a standard eave detail with blanks to fill in pitch, fascia height, and soffit dimensions.
- Maintain good records – If you have a phone or in-person conversation in which you are told to interpret the drawings in a certain way, follow up with an email or text confirming the conversation. It takes time, but less time than a dispute over who said or meant what.
These are just a few of the ways I’ve tried to manage the problems associated with having inadequate house plans. Do you have additional suggestions? Please share your thoughts with me by contacting me at secord@thejobline.com.