An Architect’s Deliverable
If you want to have an excuse to roll your eyes, just ask a group of architects what their “deliverable” is. I recently watched this very scene at a seminar.
You’ve never seen indignation until you make the mistake of suggesting the deliverable is a set of documents. Now, I’ll agree that an architect’s deliverable isn’t a set of documents complete enough to build from; if that were the case, we wouldn’t need shop drawings.
But what is it then? When people started yelling out answers, it was all I could do not to snort out loud.
“Knowledge!” ”Advice and council!” ”Ideas!” ”Design intent!”
This was coming from a group of architects working at a company that does full-service architecture; construction admin and all. We’re not talking about one of those “design” firms that only does the pretty pictures and then hands it off to the real architects to figure it out.
Give me a break. Can you imagine how useless and irrelevant you sound to a client when you say that? An “idea” is your deliverable?
Your deliverable is a set of documents (or a model) that communicates a design in sufficient detail to both obtain agency approval and for builders to understand how to build it.
If I’m an owner and I want a building, I first need a set of documents. I need that set of documents to be good enough to 1) get agency approval, and 2) give my builders enough information to build so that I’m protected from the Spearin doctrine.
And yes, I’ll expect good council along the way and some fresh ideas and creative problem-solving. Of course. But I need those documents, and a licensed architect (or technically a licensed engineer will do) is the only one who can provide them.
