Truss protectors and 1 1/4" pipe

[TimMc]

Based on over 35 years of working in the design and construction business, I disagree with this as a blanket rule. You try to find solutions to their problems, and they will help try to solve yours. If you think a multi million dollar building can be designed and documents with never an error or miss, or constructed and turned over with everything "perfect", you are dreaming.

I only dream at night, Bill

I work in multiple facilites where the various aspects of planning were inadequate, had errors in either written specs or the prints or both; or the contractors took it upon themselves to "remedy" conflicts without consultation with the designer, consultant or architect - and this does not include the 'make sh*t up as we go along' that is often practiced in situ. My personal belief is that construction companies exist to make used car salesmen and theatrical booking agents appear honorable... and I'm only partly joking here.

Maybe it's because I work mostly in the concert and live TV sides of entertainment, but where I come from, folks that do this kind of stuff get fired and replaced immediately because such unauthorized changes can have compounding impacts all the way down the line. It seems that in constructing facilities there are no penalties unless the entire structure fails. As a consultant I'm sure you're aware of far more cases and situations than I've encountered, but again it comes back to the question: why is this stuff allowed to happen in the first place? If it's budget, I'm crying crocodile tears for the owner - spending millions USD to build something and not paying competent people to make sure the buyer gets what they're paying for. Anything else is simple incompetence and I can't even manage fake TV tears for that.

Curmudgeonly yours,

Tim Mc

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

Designing and building a building is not much like designing and building a production. It all has to be completely designed before anything is started, there is a fixed price. I haven't worked on productions recently but it seemed it was always possible to make little changes, if not big ones, after construction commenced. There are also mostly people involved that understand theatre on a production, and have worked on productions before. Someone probably recognizes that getting together is worth it, but no owner wants to pay for much of that these days. There is hardly anyone else on the team on the buildings I work on that has much if any knowledge of a theatre other than what they remember from their high school experiences in the auditorium - and shagging someone in the follow spot booth doesn't count.

And I guess if a small lack of convenience when moving a fixture between some positions is not a major crisis, this isn't bad. The architect forgot a guard rail I explained and sketched several times in design so that will have to be added. Overall the big thing are there and the performance systems and equipment systems seem on track to be as intended. We did trade a couple of things for promotional consideration but just means we got everything rather than leaving some out - even if slightly different.

 

[Jay Ashworth]

I'm curious: what happens if after it's built, an AHJ sees that the fixtures have to be sleeved, and throws a flag and requires it to be ripped out and replaced on his own water before he'll issue a CO -- maybe the AHJ position changes hands during construction, for example...

 

[BillConnerFASTC]

I'm curious: what happens if after it's built, an AHJ sees that the fixtures have to be sleeved, and throws a flag and requires it to be ripped out and replaced on his own water before he'll issue a CO -- maybe the AHJ position changes hands during construction, for example...

I've never met an AHJ that would have noticed or understood that issue. On the other hand, playing along with the counterfactual, it is a balcony rail, and visible, so just using the protectors for what they are for.