ᐅ Detailed design, scope

Hello everyone, maybe someone can provide information on how the detailed design planning should be carried out. We are building with a general contractor, and the architectural services are included in the contract. In my opinion, and that of everyone directly or indirectly involved in the construction (except for the construction company, of course), the work delivered so far by “our” architect has been rather poor. He has only been to our site once because he is located 700 meters (approximately 435 miles) away. Regarding the building’s height alignment, our wishes were not met (which we only realized very late), causing the approval process to be delayed by at least two months. Now we have also learned that a construction supervision declaration should have been submitted, and because of that, we have to wait even longer for the building permit/planning permission. Once we finally have it, the execution planning (or shop drawings) must be done. I always assumed that another consultation would take place then, but today the general contractor told me that the architect will no longer come to us because it is not necessary. The house is basically planned, and if we have any interior change requests, we should communicate them by phone or email. Is this common practice, or can I request a consultation?

Hello,

what does "common" practice really mean? Each provider handles this individually.

You can only "demand" what your provider owes you according to the service contract and the accompanying documents. If a classic construction design is not included, you have no basis to successfully require it.

Regards, Bauexperte

alter0029 schrieb:
Is this common practice, or can I request a consultation?

In my experience, your experience aligns with common practice ;-). You can request anything, but what must be provided to you is determined by the contract and possibly other commitments (provided they are verifiable/effective and the general contractor doesn’t find a way to avoid them).

I also have to say that we were a bit naive – there was a very detailed structural engineering plan, the energy-saving regulations, and an execution plan, which was more like a dimensioned floor plan. There were no detailed plans (at least I never saw any).

Maybe to reassure you: it can still work out well! Apart from the fact that back then we would have liked the window in the stairwell to be a bit bigger (although now we’re glad it is the size it is), we had no problems. I believe it largely depends on having a good dialogue with your construction manager and often asking them to explain the next steps so that you can make adjustments if necessary. For example, we basically had a short meeting regularly every Friday. It also depends on the subcontractors working for your general contractor coordinating well and understanding each other.

What I learned in my training today: with inexperienced teams, it is necessary to break down large work packages into smaller ones and specify them more clearly than with experienced teams.

The construction description in the contract states:
"Detailed plans at scales of 1:50 and 1:20 will be created at the start of the house construction, which will become the property of the client."
The detailed plans are prepared by the contractor for the tradespeople according to their requirements. They will receive a copy. No other arrangements have been agreed upon.

Our detailed execution planning has so far required about 10 sessions, each lasting 3 hours or more 😉 And we’re not quite finished yet..