Construction Flashcards
The owner hires a construction manager to assist with the construction administration phase of the project. List 3 construction administration services that would be affected and describe how this would affect you.
3 CA services affected: (1) payment process, (2) construction observation schedule, (3) reviewing of shop drawings
This situation decreases architect responsibility while simultaneously increasing the architect’s liability on the project since their is another party involved
During construction, the owner wanted to lower the building’s foundation system ten feet to gain more building area, but this will put the building two feet below the flood plain. The local building department wants the building at least three feet above the flood plain. What would you do to resolve this situation?
Architect would meet with local agency and owner to discuss the issue. The architect would explain to the local agency why the owner wants to have the buildings foundation lower and then explain tot he owner why the local agency wants the building above the flood plain. The architect would document the meeting, and assist the owner to come to a mutual resolution for the situation. Once the owner agrees to the resolution a change order and additional services agreement would need to be provided to ratify the change in the design, any agency approvals, and in the construction field.
After permits have been pulled, and before construction has officially begun, the owner decides to change a large glazed area on the project to a solid wall. What building systems will be affected besides the structural system? Provide a brief description why these will be affected.
- Electrical System: decrease in natural light will require an increase in artificial lighting capacity.
- Plumbing: plumbing may be run through the wall now
- Fire/Life Safety: sprinklers may need to be rerouted, exit/egress doors and windows may need to be relocated elsewhere, etc.
List 4 CA documents, and provide a brief description of their purpose.
- ASI: (G710)
- Change Order (G701)
- Application for Payment (G702)
- Field Report
During construction observation job visit, you notice that some of the structural steel joints designed for earthquake resistance are not constructed according to the approved documents. The contractor tells you not to worry about it and says he will loose time and money if he has to dismantle the area to fix the steel connections. How would you handle the situation?
Architect makes note of issue in field report, inform the owner and structural engineer.
Architect would provide written explanation to the contractor that the work must be completed according to the approved CDs. The architect would then prepare a change order, or construction change directive, to rectify the issue.
What 4 CA services will be impacted by a two month decreased project schedule?
- quicker and more frequent testing and inspections
- less review time for shop drawings
- quicker review of payment apps
- construction observation will be more frequent
- field notes will need to be expedited.
Your client requests that security cameras be added during construction. What will you need to do?
Architect prepares an add service and gets approval from client to make the change. Then initiate a change order, contact the structural engineer to assist with the change and implement the work.
The owner is receiving a bunch of paper work titled ‘20-Day Notices’. He asks you to explain what they are, and what he needs to do to protect himself against claims.
- 20-Day Notice: notice from subs or material suppliers, working on a project that is submitted within 20 days of supplying those labor or materials. This doc is typically submitted to the owner in order for labor and material suppliers to maintain their lien rights on the project.
- the owner can protect themselves by requesting the contractor to supply a labors and materials bond, requesting affidavits for payments, and request release of liens.
A sub-conctractor has sent you their shop drawings and requests that you review and approve them as soon as you can. What would you do, why?
The architect would reject the subs request in writing explaining that shop drawings need to be reviewed by the GC. The written statement would need to be copied to the general contractor so they are aware of the situation. If shop drawings need the architect’s review and approval it should come directly from the GC. This is bc the contractual obligation for the sub is to the GC. The architect is not contracted directly with subs during the project.
During Construction, the owner wants to hang a large outdoor television screen to the side of the building to help activate the adjacent courtyard. The contractor does not agree to do the work bc he will have to tear apart a finished wall, and he states that he will loose time on the job bc he will have to pull laborers off of another part of the project to do the work and thus will loose time and money. What should you do?
The architect would to provide the owner with an add service and get their approval to proceed with the work. The architect would then contact the structural engineer to ensure the added weight is okay for that wall. Then the architect would contact the electrical engineer to ensure electrical and transmission cabling can be run to the area. If the contractor is still in disagreement then the architect would initiate a construction change directive and the work would be implemented.
During a construction observation visit with your client and his new tenants requests a different air conditioning unit be utilized to improve the HVAC of their space bc they have a large amount of computer servers that generate a lot of heat. What should you do? Why?
- The architect would inform the particular tenant that, while this is a valid request, the decision is ultimately up to the owner .. architect will notify owner blah blah
- This is bc the architects contractual obligation is with the owner, not the new tenant.
During construction, the contractor contacts you and informs you that a vertical ventilation shaft is required from the basement up through the roof of the building. What would be your concerns and how would you deal with this?
- concerns - verifying if this shaft is actually required, penetrations through fire separations, relocation/rearrangements of programmatic spaces, public visibility of the shaft at the roof, coordination with engineering consultants, etc.
- In order to handle the situation, the architect would need to validate the necessity of the item, get an add service agreement, assess the change to the design, create a design solution, contact consultants to get their input, get the change into construction docs, implement a change order, and get ensure the change is implemented in the field based on the updated CDs
How do the planning and building codes / regulations differ. How would each effect your construction documents?
Planning Regs: establish how the building and immediate site will affect the community and surrounding context.
Building Regs: Focus on regulating the building systems, building safety, means of egress, accessibility, etc.
Both will have an affect on the construction docs by focusing and guiding the building, and site, design to meet those requirements ensuring that the project can be permitted by the local agency by demonstrating that it fits into the community and is safe facility for users/ occupants/owners.
Your client wants to add a third level and an elevator to a two-story building during construction. What procedure would you use to deal with these changes?
- The architect needs to set up a meeting with the owner and the GC to go over the situation.
- The architect would then get confirmation of the clients requested change in writing, the contract would need to be amended and/or adjusted accordingly and client would need to approve, GC would need to be informed of the approval of the changes to the project and allow him to take appropriate action.
- The architect would then prepare design options for the client’s review and allow them to select preferred option to move forward with, the architect would refine the preferred option and have all affected engineering consultants revise their docs,
- the client would then need to review and approve the docs to proceed into working drawings. then documents would be resubmitted to the lead agency for approval,
- after agency approval and the completion of the working drawings the GC will either rebid the job or go through the change order process to start up work again to implement the changes
During construction, the building department inspector tells the contractor that one of the exterior walls facing a pedestrian area has to be closed up. The contractor informs you about this situation and asks you to help handle the inspector’s request. Which three consultants would be effected, besides the structural engineer?
mechanical engineer
electrical engineer
landscape architect
