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Have you ever wondered, \u201cWhy are construction drawings so cluttered and hard to read?\u201d<\/p>\n
It seems almost inevitable that young employees, unable to interpret those drawings, will sometimes make terrible mistakes.<\/p>\n
As a construction manager in civil engineering, I find myself wondering every day why we have to interpret drawings that are so difficult to read.<\/p>\n
People in the industry might say, \u201cAre you kidding me?\u201d but there are a few points that really make me wonder.<\/p>\n
To me, the drawings provided by the client are nothing more than \u201dscribbles.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the dimensions in the floor plan and cross-section clearly do not match, it indicates that the design is impractical; in most cases, layout drawings for blocks and the like show that construction cannot be carried out based on the original design.<\/p>\n
Once we receive the sketches, a massive amount of design review and revision work awaits us. Isn\u2019t the accountability for the fact that the order drawings are a complete mess far too light?<\/p>\n
I also find myself questioning the inequality of responsibility on a daily basis. Once a consultant has drawn up the plans and handed them over to the construction manager as the official construction drawings, they are almost never held accountable.<\/p>\n
Unless we\u2019re drawing completely nonsensical drawings, even if we make a few errors here and there, they\u2019re not only overlooked as careless mistakes\u2014if we in construction management proceed with construction based on those drawings and make a mistake, we\u2019ll be criticized for not thoroughly reviewing the designs.<\/p>\n
It's strange that this is accepted as common practice in the industry.<\/p>\n
A long time ago, I had to make corrections to a massive number of order drawings. I remember spending every day poring over those drawings to the point where it was interfering with my other work.<\/p>\n
After I had finished making all the corrections, I showed the revised drawings to the client and asked, \u201cTo be honest, this design work goes beyond the scope of our contract, so could you please consider paying us separately for it?\u201d The client replied, \u201cThose design review fees are already included in the construction contract,\u201d and brushed me off.<\/p>\n
From my perspective, it was like, \u201cHuh?\u201d I almost blurted out, \u201cIf the order drawings are meant to be revised by us, then why do we even need a consultant in the first place?\u201d<\/p>\n
If they can\u2019t draw up the blueprints, just think how much more efficiently the construction would proceed if we designed everything from scratch to make it easier for us to build\u2026 I\u2019m also constantly puzzled by the fact that we don\u2019t get paid what we deserve for the work we\u2019ve done, all because of these blueprint issues.<\/p>\n
Personally, I believe that \u201crevising drawings is not part of a construction manager\u2019s job.\u201d<\/p>\n
We in construction management believe that our job is to manage the construction schedule, ensure that the work is being done according to the blueprints by monitoring quality and workmanship, and generate a solid profit from the project.<\/p>\n
Just because the consultant made a mistake on the blueprints, isn't it unnecessary for us to redesign them?<\/p>\n
As long as we receive detailed drawings, all we should really have to do is figure out the processes needed to complete the project.<\/p>\n
Anyone who works in the construction industry knows that blueprints are quite complex. The higher the project cost, the more complex they become, and just reading them takes time. Furthermore, if there are errors hidden within them, the time required to review the design becomes enormous.<\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s precisely this design review work that\u2019s creating the conditions that lead people to call the construction industry \u201cexploitative.\u201d I\u2019m not saying all design firms are like this, but consultants who come up with ridiculous designs are, quite frankly, a huge nuisance to us!<\/p>\n
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