Submittals and Record Documents

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Author Message Ellis C. Whitby, AIA, PE, CSI, LEED® AP Senior Member Username: ecwhitby Post Number: 88 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Tuesday, January 04, 2011 - 01:33 pm:    I searched for previous discussions on this topic and did not see anything. If I missed something, it’s because I didn’t select the correct search words. I recently was asked about the inclusion of submittals in to “Record Documents”. We often have a contractual obligation to issue a “record” set of the Contract Documents (CDs) based upon the contractors mark-ups of the CDs, and, of course, the RFIs and Change Orders issued. Apparently one of our clients expects us to revise the CDs to include the submittals. The PM is going to ask the Owner for more information because it is unclear exactly what the Owner anticipates will be included, but I get the impression that the work includes more than including changes in major equipment. I am used to including major revisions from the submittals in the CDs. For example, if the approved submittal includes a panel schedule different than that indicated on the CDs then we would update the CDs to reflect the submittal. If a different manufacturer was provided, we would not necessarily indicate that. I am not used to going through the submittals for every small change, but prefer that the submittals be includes as part of the “record documents”. The Contract Drawings and the Project Manual would be updated to include the contractors markups, the RFIs and the change orders. My question to readers: how much of the submittals do you include in record documents? Mark Gilligan SE, Senior Member Username: mark_gilligan Post Number: 354 Registered: 10-2007 Posted on Wednesday, January 05, 2011 - 02:10 am:    Normally I would provide the client with copies of the various documents and not expend any effort to incorporate the various documents in to the CD’s. This information is a record of what happened. Anything else is something else but I would contend not record documents. If you wish to entertain the clients request I would establish that this effort is an additional service thus would expect be paid for the effort. When the Owner recognizes the added cost his expectations may be moderated. Because the requested effort is not standard practice you will need clarification from the client regarding their expectations and how they will make use of the resulting document. This might help you to identify alternative strategies to satisfy the clients concerns or help the client to understand which of their expectations are not feasible. Next the concern is you do not want to inadvertently take liability for unapproved changes or for aspects of the work that you did not address in the construction documents you issued. You do not want to give the impression that the information you were given reflects what was actually constructed if you do not have personal knowledge about it. These concerns might lead you to take the position that you cannot provide the service they are requesting because the liability implications are too great.. You want to clearly document the scope of any work that you undertake and your understanding of the reasonable expectations. Document clearly the discussions with the Owner regarding their expectations and how they are using the documents. You might end up adding a disclaimer to each of the revised documents. A number of firms have a records retention plan that destroys certain files as soon as possible both because of the storage costs but also because of the potential that the information can cause grief in the advent of any future litigation. For example it is not difficult to find errors in documents or calculations that could cause you considerable grief if somebody wanted to make a big deal about them. Thus when you turn all of this information over to the client you have created a depository of information that may come back to cause you problems. Thus you may want to ask yourself what information you have a legal duty to make available to the client and which you do not.