Architect marked Construction Plans as Preliminary

[Mania]

Hi...

 

Our architect requested considerable payment prior to providing us with our construction drawings which we totally understand and promptly arranged as a matter of course. 

 

However, I was disappointed to receive the construction drawings marked with "PRELIMINARY" all over them as I thought our work was done with the architect team. On the email they included a note telling us to send them our structural engineer's drawings to update the construction drawings. Is this normal?

 

I always thought that the SE would prepare a separate report to be submitted to Building Control as part of a pack.... surely the SE will overlay the DWG format plans which I have already relayed to him to prepare his calculations and recommendations of where the beams etc need to be. He will also need to bill us for his work - this seems like duplication to me. 

 

Is it common that we need to relay the structural engineer's drawings back to the architect? Is this a method for them to bill us further? I already had to ask them to take out charges for "submission of plans to recommended BC". They weren't happy that we were going to use our own independent engineer instead of one from their firm. 

 

Are they trying to pull a fast one?  I had to ask them to exclude fees to submit the plans to their recommended BC on the invoice- not something we ever discussed with them or agreed to. 

 

I will be grateful for any tips or advice. 

 

Thank you ?

[MikeSharp01]

13 minutes ago, Mania said:

Are they trying to pull a fast one?  I had to ask them to exclude fees to submit the plans to their recommended BC on the invoice- not something we ever discussed with them or agreed to. 

Probably not. They just want to be sure that the scheme works as it is their insurance and usually the architect is the final sign off. So they will take the drawings from the SE and integrate then with their drawings and check all is well. This would normally be part of the construction drawings process. You can argue that it is a double check for them, have they missed anything, do all their details still work after the SE has done their bit etc. If you are submitting the drawings that is not a problem but you need them to say they are OK for submission.

[Mania]

3 minutes ago, MikeSharp01 said:

They just want to be sure that the scheme works as it is their insurance and usually the architect is the final sign off. So they will take the drawings from the SE and integrate then with their drawings and check all is well.

 

Thank you Mike, that is very reassuring. 

[Temp]

5 hours ago, Mania said:

However, I was disappointed to receive the construction drawings marked with "PRELIMINARY" all over them as I thought our work was done with the architect team. On the email they included a note telling us to send them our structural engineer's drawings to update the construction drawings. Is this normal?

 

I always thought that the SE would prepare a separate report to be submitted to Building Control as part of a pack.... surely the SE will overlay the DWG format plans which I have already relayed to him to prepare his calculations and recommendations of where the beams etc need to be. He will also need to bill us for his work - this seems like duplication to me. 

 

Is it common that we need to relay the structural engineer's drawings back to the architect? Is this a method for them to bill us further? I already had to ask them to take out charges for "submission of plans to recommended BC". They weren't happy that we were going to use our own independent engineer instead of one from their firm. 

 

 

Quite normal for the architect to send drawings fo the SE for his input. He might be able to suggest changes that allow a beam to be eliminated or spot areas that need strengthening. Our Architect arranged a meeting between the three of us. I mostly listened while they discussed some of the construction details. The SE then did the foundation design while the Architect incorporated changes the SE had suggested. 

[Conor]

The architectural and structural drawings need to match, or there is risk of something being missed. CDM etc.

 

Our SE and architect worked in tandem and agreed the concept so there was never any real difference in the drawings.

[Mania]

1 hour ago, Conor said:

The architectural and structural drawings need to match, or there is risk of something being missed. CDM etc.

 

Our SE and architect worked in tandem and agreed the concept so there was never any real difference in the drawings.

 

Thank you