Being involved on a job site

We walked a job today with an electrician, builder and homeowner. Always fun, ‘eh?

Actually is a good team and the electrician, whom I had not previously met, seemed to be on the same page in most areas so I did not have to whine, beg, cajole, or threaten even a little bit to get my our way. He will run whips in the wall for sconces to be placed later, check. He did not fuss about side wall outlets, check. He knew something about LED lighting, DOUBLE check, he said “no problem” more than once, check and he did not argue with our switching plan, check. 

Homeowners please listen!

If you are a homeowner reading this, do not underestimate the value of having your designer walk the job site with you and your subs. This service will pay off in a big way later on when the plan is executed…well, according to plan. In any remodel, you will have issues with placement of rough in items like electrical and plumbing fixtures. It just happens too often that something is in the way of exactly where you want to place a fixture.

And of course the design team does not come and whip out their super duper X-ray goggles and see into the walls and ceiling. But , if you do a walk through with the sub, he will know where your intentions lie and can alert you to any potential issues as they arise. Then, said design team can react accordingly and with the best interests of the client in mind and make experienced decisions about what to do “if” something cannot go according to plan. 

The BIG Picture

Did I mention I feel this is an invaluable service? It most assuredly is because you have someone looking out for the project with the BIG picture in mind. 

And if you are a designer or associate reading this and you handle anything to do with electrical or plumbing, MAKE SURE you do not relegate this walk through to the builder and home owner alone. Yes, you need to be there! ( and  I say this because have been asked so many times by colleagues if this is important..yes yes yes!)

Benefits of walking the job site

Walking the job site often is critical to success on any large project. So much can be caught prior to it being a very nasty change order. I like to say the evolutionary timeline for building or remodeling consists of two periods: BS and AS : BEFORE sheetrock and then AFTER sheetrock. Waaaaaaaaayyy less expensive to pay your design team to walk the site than it is pay for changes AS. 

And of course today on the electrical walk through, we saw the plumber had been to the site busily working yet seemingly oblivious to the carefully laid out plans. Oopsie. Got to move those pipes. And the builder, who is a great guy, says to us the fatal words….”well he assumed…..”. 

A designer cannot catch everything or anticipate every potential problem. But the best ones will sure as heck be out on your job site talking, reviewing, “eyeballing” what they are in charge of creating.