Do Your Drawings Diligence

Every developer knows they need to do their do diligence when purchasing a property. You check all the zoning, easements, air rights, violations and etcetera, then you run the numbers on the proforma and know what your maximum price is all before you even put in an offer. On the other hand developers often don't put in as much effort into being as exacting on the drawings front. The reasons can can vary, often it has to do with time, everyone wants to get the drawings bid and in the ground quick as possible. Another reason is perceived value, developers would rather spend the budget on construction than a bunch of paper that gets thrown away when the building is signed off. Owner indecision on design selections may seem like they can wait as long as the façade and details show brick. Some times even the architects and engineers abet this by saying oh drawings can never be perfect so they can meet their deadline and get things out to bid. But it will always come back to bite you.

A counter point to that that line of thinking is it can cost you even more to have incomplete or bad drawings. The more accurate and exacting the drawings and specifications the more accurate the bids, the fewer change orders and less RFI and delays. A mistake in the drawings from expediency always costs more time and money during construction than having taken the time to get it right in the first place.

Take the custom green panels on the project below.. The general contractor expected to use the white on the standard panels, but it looked awful. The architect wanted custom caulking manufactured but it would have cost thousands in extra scaffolding rental time. We asked the installer for what "off the shelf" green colors we could get, none looked great but that's what we had to settle with and it still cost extra time and money. All this could have been avoided by simply taking the time to extra review and add a note "caulk color to match panel." All that multi page performance specification with listed expectable manufacturers was useless without that missing note.

While it may seem tedious especially with the bank breathing down your neck to get into the ground and start drawing on your construction loan; it always pays to have accurate and detailed drawings and specifications. Don't cheap out on your consulting fee it will only be a burden during the even more stressful construction period.