PRM SEM 01 - 11. Documentation Flashcards
Drawing Sets Legal Document
The Set of Working Drawings, (mainly called Construction Drawings, or Contract Drawings), is a component of a legal document. Together with the specification and other warranty/certification paperwork, they form the Contract Documents.
BC Sets vs Tender Sets vs Construction Sets
The set of working drawings and specification lodged for Building Consent contains all information relevant to the built works under the Building Act. There are also built works in each project which do not require to be covered by the Building Consent. This information is added to the BC Set, to form the ‘Tender Set’ and the ‘Construction Set’.
What is the Tender Set?
The Tender Set of drawings is for the builder to price / quote on (often marked “For Pricing Only”)
What is the Construction Set?
The Construction Set (often marked “For Construction”) is the final set for the contractor to work from on site. (Note: The Building Consent Set must ALWAYS be on site and this is the set referred to by the Territorial Authority (Council) during inspections.
What document should always remain on site?
The Building Consent Set must ALWAYS be on site and this is the set referred to by the Territorial Authority (Council) during inspections.
What happens when there is a change in the plans?
When changes happen on a job, we issue new sets of drawings and it is a challenge to make sure contractors and subbies (sub-contractors) are all working from the latest set! Each update has a code (eg. A,B,C, D …. ) so that people can communicate with each other what set they are working with. When one detail (eg window head detail) is changed we may need to reissue the whole set as it is keyed in to plans, sections, elevations, window schedule …
Documentation Production Programme:
The office should have already established a job programme and timetable and allocated staff
to the project.
Building Consent and Documentation are the most time and labour intensive parts of the project
for architects (and this is reflected in the fees).
On large or complex jobs, coordination of Consultants’ drawings is a major task. When design
changes are made they can have a domino effect on the drawings of the structural, mechanical,
services and electrical engineers for instance.
How are BC and Construction Drawings different?
Typically in reality Documentation differs from the Building Consent set in that:
- the interior details such as ceilings, linings, finishing, junctions, and trim are resolved.
- bathroom and kitchen details are refined.
- built-in fittings such as benches, shelves etc are detailed and scheduled.
- schedules of doors and windows are produced.
- schedules of hardware fittings are produced.
- schedules of appliances are produced.
- electrical and lighting plans are produced. (note lighting plan is also commonly called an
RCP, Reflected Ceiling Plan). - Interior design and colour schemes are completed, a schedule of finishes (carpet, vinyl, tile)
and perhaps signage are produced. - a landscape plan is produced or further refined.
- the schedule of quantities is changed or expanded to reflect the above.
Cost Efficiencies: QS
We need to keep the QS (quantity surveyor) in the loop to avoid a cost blow out during
Documentation.
Currently the architect’s solution to cutting costs is to reduce floor area, substitute cheaper materials or chop off design “features”.
We should explore smarter ways of doing things.
Cost Efficiencies: Alternative to the Traditional tender process
The traditional process is linear or consecutive: Resource Consent, Building Consent, Tender
documents, For Construction documents.
As an alternative to the traditional Tender process, where firms compete to price the building,
on large complex jobs contractors often feed back ideas on construction efficiencies and savings
during the Pricing stage that alter the design during the production of For Construction drawings.
This has developed from the Design-Build or Fast-track concepts (where architects work
more alongside the builder) and from manufacturing where the process is known as Concurrent or Simultaneous Engineering (for example changes in the design of a product already on the assembly line leads to variations or different models).
Frequently these days architects get medium and large jobs in a consortium (or alliance) with a builder and project manager. So even before you begin design, the builder is part of your team (or you are part of theirs!) This helps improve efficiency and buildability.
Cost Efficiencies: Buildability
This is another way of making the building more cost efficient but requires designers to have a good grasp of the construction process, material supply and handling etc. Key elements are:
planning and preparation in advance
easy communication and coordination
simplicity
standardisation and repetition
early enclosure of the building
allowing concurrent rather than consecutive trades on site
robust materials
adjustability or flexibility of materials and details
achievable tolerances and finishes.
Attention to these things can save you money … and save you chopping off floor area or features,
or reducing the quality of materials.
The Possibility of New Technologies
The architectural and construction industries are moving towards model-based working and the sharing of models in a new context called ‘Integrated Practice’. BIM (Building Information Modelling) can create a digital management system where we can “track changes” but keep it all on one virtual document rather than have several sets of drawings floating around. Contributions to the BIM documentation can be made from all over the world. Sharing work between the northern and southern hemispheres allows documentation to proceed 24 hours a day - eg. several young NZers who worked for English or American architectural practices continue to do contract work here, drafting during the day while the designers sleep (“Contract work” is when an architecture firm gets outsiders to produce drawings when employees are too busy).
The adoption of the ‘Building Information Model’ (BIM) system could affect the set of Construction Drawings - the ‘plan, section, elevation’ approach to drawing could be replaced by the model itself, which is shared by all parties. Whereas the use of digital technologies in the architectural field were initially an adoption of 2D CAD drawing systems to replace the hand drawn equivalent (eg. AutoCAD), integrated practice uses BIM (Building Information Modelling) as a communication language between Architect, Councils, Main Contractor, Sub-Contractors and Fabricators (eg Revit, Archicad). BIM models hold more information than merely the Prescriptive - eg. projected environmental / programming / financial modelling. The Integrated Practice (IP) approach means more collaboration earlier in the project process, and supports the Design/Build Contract type. It changes the contract form, so again Contract Law will undergo a revision before BIM is fully adopted.
