| |
Imperfect Contract Documents
Who Pays for the Errors?
By Arthur F. O’Leary, FAIA, MRIAI
Architects and engineers are painfully aware that there is actually no such thing as a perfect set of construction documents. Contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers have always known this to be true. But some owners have not as yet been informed of the startling fact that architects are only human and some are not perfect.
The repercussions of our shortcomings vary from project to project. Sometimes our imperfections are, thankfully, only minor glitches that are easily rectified, and our embarrassment is fleeting. Other times our inadequacies are more substantial and if they are not corrected in time, considerable harm could be done, and valuable resources wasted. Even more rarely, the blunder is of catastrophic proportions and the price is high in time, money, loss of confidence and reputation, and possibly resulting in personal injury or death.
Occasionally, the mistake is sufficiently concealed to remain undiscovered for years before the latent misfortune materializes. Some, undoubtedly, remain forever unnoticed.
Arthur O'Leary Archives |
Read more
DCD
InSights
A Prescription for Healthier Health Care
Friendly to both the environment and patients, green health care initiatives are also saving green.
It’s a funny thing about change: no matter how good the idea, and no matter how widespread the anticipated benefits, it usually takes a major catalyst to make it happen.
Green practices in the medical field are not new, but until the past decade, heavily regulated health care was hesitant to embrace additional guidelines – especially those not easily integrated with regulations set by the Joint Commission, OSHA or other governing organizations.
One of the first organizations to create awareness of environmental sustainability and green building was Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E), an independent not-for-profit organization that promotes environmental sustainability in the health care industry.
Insights
Archive | Read more
DCD
Cost Trends
Construction Cost Trends for 2008
Construction costs are moderating with overall yearly increases still in the 2-3% range. Housing starts are off and residential construction is down almost 20%. It still remains to be seen if the interest rate reduction will stop the slide. The remaining commercial sectors are generally up by double-digits and still show signs of strength. A word of caution: even though commercial construction shows significant strength, housing accounts for almost 50% of the construction industry and we wonder if the commercial industry can continue to offset a 20% slide in housing. Overall, construction is down slightly, and all are looking to see if the Federal Reserve rate decrease will stem any future declines.
Trends Archive |
Read more
DCD
Cost Guides
The DCD
Medical Square Foot Cost Guide
Design Cost Data™ magazine includes a Building Sq. Ft. Cost Guide in each issue. These square foot cost guides have been assembled from projects in our database, the National Historical Building Cost Database (NHBCdb™) online at DCD.COM. These guides are provided to the industry by DCD as a benchmark for future building costs.
DCD Cost Guides
Archive | Read
more
| |
| Case Studies Case Studies Archive |
|
File: Civic
• Moline Public Library
Moline, Illinois
• West Sacramento Fire Station No. 45
West Sacramento, California
• Lafayette Police Facility
Lafayette, Colorado
File: Commercial
• Firefly Grill
Effingham, Illinois
File: Educational
• St. Georges Technical High School
St. Georges, Delaware
• Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES
Johnstown, New York
File: Medical
• Angiography Imaging Suite
Hollywood, California
File: Office
• 212 Archer Street
Bel Air, Maryland
• 510 Amory Street
Boston, Massachusetts
File:
Recreational
• St. Raphael Academy Alumni Hall Athletic & Wellness Center
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
• Clemson First Baptist Church
Clemson, South Carolina
|
 |
|
Advertiser
Index
|
|
Reprints Available from DCD: Contact DCD at
(800) 533-5680 for pricing. »
Learn more
|
|
