Late Contract Awards and Shop Drawings

Far too often contracts are awarded at the eleventh hour. Window washing, suspended maintenance and fall protection systems are no different than any other trade in the sense that it requires time to book the job in, review contracts, complete shop drawings, get drawings stamped, get approval from the client, manufacture equipment, schedule installation etc... The understanding can at times seem to be that since the product is required only on the roof, it can be left to the last minute on the project.

At the end of the day, for whatever reason the contract has been issued late in the game. Now, one of the most important factors in quick turn around time for shop drawings is getting CAD files. If the architect or owner has decided to not release cad files to subtrades, than they and the general contractor have to understand that shop drawings will have to be completely drawn from scratch. This takes time. Every line, detail and dimension must be manually drawn  from whatever hard copies are available. If at all possible, an FTP site with all the CAD's is the ideal. If that is not an option, the roof anchor contractor needs:

• roof plans (both architectural and structural)
• floor plans (typical floor is acceptable if applicable)
• elevations
• building sections / wall sections
• all xrefs to be either included or embedded

At times, there is a charge for CAD drawings. They aren't cheap in these cases. They usually run around $100 a sheet or more. I have personally seen charges as high as $200 per sheet. You have to imagine that on a small margin job there is absolutely no room for a sub contractor absorb these costs. They would rather take longer producing shop drawings from scratch than paying ludicrous fees to meet a tight deadline.

If the roof anchor contractor has the CAD files, producing shop drawings is relatively easy. Point and click where the anchors go, show a few connection details and "drops", put a few notes on the drawing, get it stamped and send it out.

If the situation makes awarding the window washing, suspended maintenance, and fall protection systems at the last minute an absolute necessity, let's give the contractor everything they need to get the job done. With the exception of high security projects, their is no good reason to date that I have heard in my career for withholding, or charging exorbitant amounts for release of CAD drawings to subcontractors.


Best,

Michael Gray
Marketing and Sales Support
Ontario and Eastern Canada
Pro-Bel Enterprises Ltd
e: mikegray@pro-bel.ca
t: @Pro_Bel
w: www.pro-belgroup.com