Drawing the difficult section

We work with designers, lots of designers. There is a balance between the drawing budget and what's required on paper in order to convey the design intent, without drawing every nut and bolt and wood screw. I've worked on both sides of the table, on the architect's/designer's side as well as on the contractor's side via the millwork industry. I know what's required from both sides to get the job done.

When a project goes out to tender, what's on the drawings and specifications forms the basis of the contract. If it's not on the drawings, chances are it won't be included in the tender price and the client will have to pay more for something they thought they were already going to get for a certain price. It's frustrating to say the least. What eats up fees are design changes, which are mostly client driven. Designers make projects throughout their career whereas clients may only do it once in their lives, so the experience base is vastly different. There are also expectations to be managed, as well as time lines.

The contract is awarded and the onus is put upon the general contractor and the subtrades to figure it all out and to try and piece things together, and then build it all exactly as planned, down to the 1/16".

I find that I spend a lot of time working with the designers, either directly or with the general contractor, and I find that I always give them the same advice "Draw the difficult section". There's 2 sketches above, on the left is how we usually see things from the designer, and perhaps they will have one or two general sections through the walls which they hope will convey intent. However what we really need to see is on the right; each one of those bubbles with arrows is a section and detail which we'll need so that the design intent is met. If those sections and details aren't on the designer's drawings, how are we supposed to build it?

The answer is that we make educated guesses when we don't have an answer, or we communicate and trade sketches back and forth. Each of those communications eats up billable hours, both ours as well as the contractor's and the designer's. And we cannot bill for it, it's all supposed to be included in our pricing. In a competitive bid environment, it means we have to make an assumption about something that isn't fully figured out, and our guess has to be both accurate and less costly than our competitor's guess. Happily we get it right most of the time, however sometimes something which looked straightforward is actually a Pandora's box once we get into it and now there's 30 hours of unbillable hours wrapped up in something that the designer only conveyed in one elevation and one section.

When I worked for Yabu Pushelberg, my detailing team was responsible for making all of the drawings which went out for tender. We translated the designer's doodles and sketches into something which could be priced and built accurately. We did all the difficult sections because nearly everything we did was custom. On one project, however, I missed something and I had to send out an addendum during the tender... that was 20 phonecalls and 20 faxes sent to everyone who was pricing it. I learned my lesson... always draw the difficult section the first time. It might take 5 more hours to draw, but it will save 20 calls, 20 faxes, 30 hours of coordination down the road, and nobody will have to guess at a price.

Because I'm on the manufacturing side of the table now, we have to draw every section regardless of the difficulty. Our drawings are used internally for fabrication, we also send our drawings to subtrades like custom metal shops, door suppliers, stone workers, and upholsterers. And our drawings are used by our installation crew as well as the general contractor for coordinating electrical, plumbing, and a myriad of other things. Our margin for error is zero. But we can't make any of these drawings if we don't have what we need at the beginning.

So if you're a young designer just starting out, endeavor to include as much as you can in the tender drawings; it helps everybody. And if you're not sure about a millwork detail, call me up. I always offer help to designers with whom I work, even if it's not a project we're engaged in. Relationships are the key to everything, eventually it will come around.