| Author |
Message |
Priscilla Lee
New member
Username: pjlee
Post Number: 1
Registered: 11-2019
| | Posted on Saturday, May 30, 2020 - 09:34 pm: |    |
I was wondering if folks can help me in understanding how different people use the Project Manual.
There is a lot written about what goes in it, the primary sections, the contract forms, the docs that aren't contract docs, how to organize it, and so on... I know it is "prepared for, or made available for, procuring and constructing the Work..." (EJCDC C-700)
In "From Head to Head," Sheldon Wolfe, RA, FCSI, CCS, says:
"… at least in theory, each of my project manuals was read by at least the project architect, other staff architects working on the project, our consultants, several people on the owners' staffs, and all the contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and installers working on my projects."
https://www.nhcsi.org/sheldon-wolfe-article
So how do these folks use the Project Manual in real life?
Also, what should you remove for each of the different audiences?
Thank you |
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS
Senior Member
Username: michael_chusid
Post Number: 531
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2020 - 11:22 am: | |
Pricilla
These are good questions, but perhaps to broad to answer succinctly in an a chat room. Tell us more about you and your experience so we have a better idea of what you are looking for and a starting point to the discussion.
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS 1-818-219-4937
www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru |
Priscilla Lee
Junior Member
Username: pjlee
Post Number: 2
Registered: 11-2019
| | Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2020 - 07:17 pm: | |
I am putting together a "how-to" for an entity if they should decide that they want a project manual by the book, but the "how-to" might end up being an academic exercise. Right now, my document has information about Div.01, early sharing of design information, editing, preliminary review and coordination, standardization, and so on). I used the CSI Construction Specification Practice Guide, PRM (sometimes that is easier to follow), articles from Conspectus (standardizing, formats, common coordination problems), blogs, definitions from AIA and EJCDC C-700, videos from Youtube (specs in the project manual which aren't contract docs), and so on. What I'm missing are "illuminating" use cases for Project Manual. The closest I came to finding something was in "Have You Checked Your Front End Lately? by Urban Rump.
https://www.awci.org/cd/pdfs/9108_e.pdf
I learned what a subcontractor would find important in the Project Manual.
He begins, "Ask yourself this question--when was the last time you took the time to read the front end documents of a job? If you are like most subcontractors, you are pressed for time on your estimate and your attention to the contract documents is a review of the section that you are concerned about, the alternates and addendas, sometimes the bid form and occasionally the general and supplementary conditions.
Conversely the General Contractor and other prime contractors are required to review the front end documents much more thoroughly since
these documents are vitally important to their overall contractual relations with the owner. In addition to their own review of these conditions, their bonding and insurance companies as well as their attorneys must review these documents to offer the protection the prime contractor is required to furnish to the owner and to himself. You say, “Why should I concern myself with these front end documents
when so many others have this primary responsibility?” Of course the answer is that these conditions are contractually passed on to the subcontractor in his contract with the General Contractor."
For contractor forms, he says, "However, as bound in the project manual in its unexecuted form, it furnishes you with the necessary
information regarding progress payments, payment for stored materials, liquidated damages, retainage, and final payment to name some of the important items. Some of these items are also covered in other sections of the
Project Manual, but they are identified more fully in the agreement." He talks about Conditions of the Contract and General Conditions. It is more obvious why those are important.
Sheldon Wolf's "Comments to Clients; the project manual" will be useful too. I just found it this second ago. http://swspecificthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/10/comments-to-clients-project-manual.html?m=0
Thank you! |
Priscilla Lee
Member
Username: pjlee
Post Number: 3
Registered: 11-2019
| | Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2020 - 08:52 pm: | |
Michael, as a postscript. I loved your "Mind your health. Be generous to those having a rough time. And remember - We will get through this." I want to include it in my email signature. I will attribute it to you, but it is great. So many people are having a hard time. |
J. Peter Jordan
Senior Member
Username: jpjordan
Post Number: 1127
Registered: 05-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2020 - 09:48 pm: | |
All too often attorneys become important users of the Project Manual. I would suggest that this may be the result of another party failing to use the Project Manual properly or even being aware of it in the first place.
I can't remember where I heard it firstm but someone once told me that if you put two tables in a room and place the Drawings on one table and the Project Manual on the other, attorneys would generally ignore the Drawings and go straight for the "Spec Book."
J. Peter Jordan, FCSI, AIA, CCS, LEED AP, SCIP
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Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS
Senior Member
Username: michael_chusid
Post Number: 532
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, May 31, 2020 - 10:43 pm: | |
Pricilla, I am glad my words (From the CSI Covid Response Online Community) were helpful to you. Please do not attribute them to me. Let them flow directly from your heart to the people who need the encouragement.
You are obviously digging deep and looking into many of the right references. You can call me if you just need to talk it through. I would also like to know more about your technical writing.
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS 1-818-219-4937
www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru |
Robert E. Woodburn, CSI, CCS, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: bob_woodburn
Post Number: 200
Registered: 11-2010
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2020 - 12:04 am: | |
Peter, your comment reminds me of the old riddle, "What's the difference between a plan room and a court room?" Answer: "In the court room, they read the specs." |
Dave Metzger
Senior Member
Username: davemetzger
Post Number: 768
Registered: 07-2001
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2020 - 08:47 am: | |
Priscilla, to respond to your question, “what should you remove for each of the different audiences?”, the answer is nothing. The content of the project manual is not customized for each party who may read it. Each party will take from the project manual the information applicable to their needs.
I see the project manual’s greatest use by contractors as being during the bidding phase, for contractors, subs, and estimators in putting together their bids; and the design team during the construction phase in reviewing submittals. A competent contractor doesn’t need the project manual to tell them how to construct the building. Perhaps somewhat cynically, once construction has started I see the primary value of the project manual as (ideally) containing silver bullets; especially (as noted by several respondents above) in the litigation phase. |
ken hercenberg
Senior Member
Username: khercenberg
Post Number: 1283
Registered: 12-2006
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2020 - 11:18 am: | |
Priscilla, you seem to have chosen an interesting topic to tackle.
Please note that the design team's use of Contract Documents, Drawings and Specifications, is to communicate our design intent. Designing is what we are paid to do and both vehicles for communication are supposed to be used holistically, together. The Drawings graphically communicate aesthetics, locations, and quantities. The specs communicate qualities and the means for measuring those qualities using reference standards, listing products, and identifying "Thou shall" and "Thou shall not" requirements.
A bidder who misses requirements listed in the specs can lose a lot of money in construction or even cause the Project to fail. Despite what is said above, most Contractors I work with not only read the specs, they question the requirements when it suits them. When they comply with Division 01 requirements about substitutions I am able to learn about new products. Everything is about communication. The better we communicate as a team, the better the outcome. As you've probably notices, the Building Team is made up of many disparate entities from Designers and their consultants, lawyers, and insurance people to the Owner and their advisors, investors, consultants, lawyers, and insurance people to Contractors and their subs, vendors, suppliers, personnel, lawyers, and insurance people.
Everyone has access to everything. No one can use the excuse of not knowing that information was in the Contract Documents.
As designers we can't know how the Contractor will divide, or scope out, the Work. We don't determine who does what. We divide the information based on industry standards, usually CSI MasterFormat, SectionFormat, and PageFormat. If you look at other threads on 4specs.com's Discussion Forum you will see that many of us often raise questions about where to put information. A savvy Contractor will make sure to send out a full set of documents to each entity to make sure they don't miss anything. In the age of PDF's this is a lot easier than when we were issuing everything in hard copy. |
George A. Everding, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA
Senior Member
Username: geverding
Post Number: 913
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2020 - 01:26 pm: | |
Before ascribing too much philosophical meaning to why a project manual exists and who uses it (I'm not denigrating any of this conversation - everyone is making valid points) remember the reason there is a separate project manual to begin with.
What's in the project manual is there because it is a different size format than the drawings. Ken's point about pdfs suggests that ultimately a separate project manual may not be needed, as all the information contained in it will be part of, interconnected through, and accessed from, the building information model. All the information in the project manual and all the information on the drawings is equally important, equally part of the contract*, and pertains equally to all parties.
So, don't be overly influenced by what is fundamentally a format issue (what lives where). I hope project manuals become obsolete, and the sooner the better, so that we all start looking at the totality of the contract documents.
*Exceptions to the contract being things like procurement documents, resource drawings, etc. |
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS
Senior Member
Username: michael_chusid
Post Number: 533
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2020 - 03:06 pm: | |
Even if everyone involved in a project had instantaneous access to all the contract documents, submittals, installation instructions, codes, models, and onsite robots, individuals will still work with blinders on. Ironically, the more access we have to information, the less information any one of us can use. Artificial intelligence (whatever that is) will not help, because it will delude us into thinking we don't have to think.
Instead of stumbling around in the dark, we are blinded by too much light. That is why I keep coming back to this website - so I can stumble along with others, noticing where they trip, so maybe we can keep from stubbing my toes.
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS 1-818-219-4937
www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru |
bunzick (Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2020 - 04:17 pm: | |
Who reads/uses the project manual also is dependent on the environment in which the construction contract is executed. For a client that builds a lot of very similar projects, using the same types of materials and finishes with a select group of frequently-used contractors (think chain store), the manual is likely to be barely used (and may not even exist). For a school board building a high school with competitive bidding and state construction laws, the manual is likely to be pretty dog-eared. I did a lot of construction administration (as well as spec writing). The project manual was indispensable whenever there was a dispute about what work was intended. If I was able to show via the drawings and especially the specs, that the intent was clearly indicated, in almost all cases the dispute ended. Note that sometimes this went against the owner (and in a way, the architect) if the documents did not show what the designer thought they did. What one "wanted" is not necessarily what is shown. |
J. Peter Jordan
Senior Member
Username: jpjordan
Post Number: 1128
Registered: 05-2004
| | Posted on Monday, June 01, 2020 - 05:04 pm: | |
The Construction Contract consists of the Executed Agreement (and associated forms), the Contract Conditions (and any supplements), the Drawings, the Specifications, and any modifications (addenda, change orders, supplemental instructions, and other modifications). When considering which parts can be omitted, it is important to note that omission of any of the components may leave the impression that that particular component is not really part of the Contract Documents. It has been my experience that once "extraneous material" is omitted, various parties seem to take the view that since such material has been omitted, it really isn't part of the Contract Documents.
The Contract Documents are developed to communicate to the Contractor the requirements under that Contract which include not only execution of the work, but other administrative and requirements for temporary facilities as well. It is the Contractor who is ultimately responsible for performing/executing the requirements indicated on the Drawings and in the Specifications.
J. Peter Jordan, FCSI, AIA, CCS, LEED AP, SCIP
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Mark Gilligan SE,
Senior Member
Username: mark_gilligan
Post Number: 935
Registered: 10-2007
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2020 - 06:03 pm: | |
The project manual is part of the contract between the Owner and the Contractor. When you break it up you are in effect modifying the contract. If you break the manual up you are creating holes that may allow one party or another to avoid what would otherwise be an obligation.
If the owner does this it may be stupidity but if the designer decides to split up the document then it may be negligence.
I have problems with the phrase design intent. We are defining what is required and if our documents are not clear enough our intent is irrelevant. |
J. Peter Jordan
Senior Member
Username: jpjordan
Post Number: 1129
Registered: 05-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, June 04, 2020 - 03:35 pm: | |
The term "design intent" is one that has been around. AIA A 201 says that the Drawings show "the design, location and dimensions of the Work, generally including plans, elevations, sections, details, schedules, and diagrams." A few paragraphs later it says "The intent of the Contract Documents is to include all items necessary for the proper execution and completion of the Work by the Contractor...."
This seems to me to be a bit stronger than "design intent."
J. Peter Jordan, FCSI, AIA, CCS, LEED AP, SCIP
|
Sheldon Wolfe
Senior Member
Username: sheldon_wolfe
Post Number: 1047
Registered: 01-2003
| | Posted on Monday, June 08, 2020 - 04:57 pm: | |
Compliance with "design intent" has been in the A201 from the second edition through 1987 (I don't have a copy of the first edition, but it probably was there, too).
A201 1987, 1.2.3. "...performance by the Contractor shall be required only to the extent consistent with the Contract Documents and reasonably inferable from them as being necessary to produce the intended results." [My emphasis.]
In 1987, the need for a crystal ball was removed; contractors no longer had to discern what the architect had in mind, but could rely on the information presented in the contract documents.
1.2.1. "...performance by the Contractor shall be required only to the extent consistent with the Contract Documents and reasonably inferable from them as being necessary to produce the indicated results." [My emphasis.]
I got a chuckle from your post, Priscilla, as you managed to find two of my articles. In my last office, I made a cheat sheet so staff could find answers to frequently asked questions about where to find CYA stuff in the general conditions.
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(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, June 08, 2020 - 05:02 pm: | |
Several years ago, David Lorenzini sent his "Project Manual User Guide" to me. It's similar to my cheat sheet, but his guide addresses many procedural issues, with only brief mention of the general conditions. I'm posting it here with his permission.
[Posted by Sheldon without username]
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Priscilla Lee
Intermediate Member
Username: pjlee
Post Number: 4
Registered: 11-2019
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - 08:19 pm: | |
Thank you for the wealth of information! |
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