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On-Line Course w/ MA Torres-MacDonald TA, Layne Scott
course material
readings, tips, & references
class page archives
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2010
(17)
- ► 05/02 - 05/09 (1)
- ► 04/11 - 04/18 (2)
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- ► 01/31 - 02/07 (1)
- ► 01/24 - 01/31 (1)
Posts
Hi Mr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to speak with us tonight. I know that the jobs between contractor and architect are very intertwined, and I have sometimes thought about how I might possibly end up in a contracting career at some point. Just out of curiosity, what sort of knowledge would a contractor need to know that an architect might not? Is it just simply more hands-on experience in the construction world that helps? Also, how does one go about getting a job in contracting? Does one just start low on the construction chain and work their way up, or is there another way to get right into it? I know a good amount about what contracting entails, but not a lot about the "career" I guess you could say. Thanks for the help.
Phil H.
Mr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if your company specialized in any particular area of construction. I understand that as a general contractor you tend to subcontract out areas that are more specialized but is your company known for a particular speciality? I noticed on your website that you have worked on a number of medical buildings and thought that maybe this was a speciality of the company. Just curious.
Thanks,
Adrianna
Mr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to come visit with our class. What is the main difference, in your mind, between an architects way of thinking and the contractors? If they are different, how do the two interact without conflict. I have worked on a job site and seen first hand tension between an architect and a contractor.
Mr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost, thank you for speaking with our class last week. I, such as Brendon, have always worked a job site and interned for a general contractor. Much of our time was spent more often than not dealing with architects and sometimes the lack of information given within drawings. I know you mentioned some of this in your presentation and I was wondering if you could elaborate on how this ultimately affects the business and relationships that you hold with the architects for future projects.
Thank you.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for taking time out of your day to talk to our class. I would first of all like to apologize for the actions of myself and some other members of the class. It would have appeared that we were not giving you as much attention that you deserved. For that I am sorry, and I hope you will not hold that against us or hesitate to talk to the class next year. You gave us some very valuable information that will help us as we make the transition from the classroom to the work force.
One thing I found interesting was when you mentioned the importance of specifications. While I was working in an office I tried to avoid them like the plague. To me it just seemed like a very large stack of papers that nobody in their life would ever be able to read through. Now that I know they are important and someone actually does take the time to go through it, I think I will attempt to get a better understanding of that portion of the construction documents. I can’t say that I will start writing them and make that my new passion, but I will at least not run when someone mentions specs.
Mr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for coming to speak to us. When I worked for a residential firm we had close relationships with several area builders and contractors. Since then I have been greatly interested in the relationships between the designers and those who construct their designs. This has also led to an interest in design/build. Do you feel that working closely or in a design/build firm with an architect eases the tensions? Or since architects and contractors each have a specialization does it cause problems when crossing into one another's area of expertise?
Mr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for spending some time with our class last week. I got a lot out of hearing you speak but had just one question. I did an internship at a firm in Dallas that works on many civic and government jobs and I was privileged enough to be able to punch a few buildings with the owner of the firm, the owner of the building, the fire inspector and the contractor. While completing this punchlist it was clearly evident that the building was nowhere near substantial completion, yet the contractors representative (I do not remember his title) kept confronting us about making sure we signed off on the building being substantially complete since he was on a tight deadline. THis ultimately lead to an ugly confrontation where he took his anger of his workers not being complete out on the architect I was working for because he would not sign off on the substantial completion. Is there often this tension in the professional environment when it comes down to deadlines? I know his reputation with his company and a lot of budget expense was riding on us signing off, but the architect refused to do any favors for him because he did not want to be responsible for that. Thank you so much
Thank you for speaking with our class. I was wondering about the contractor/architect relationship. I have worked around a lot of contractors and they never have anything good to say about architects, and vice versa. Would you have any words of advice from the architectural stand point on how to deal with contractors, and resolving issues with them. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHey Mike, first of all I would just like to thank you for your time in coming in and talking to our class. I enjoyed hearing about a different aspect from a different point of view within our profession. I heard you talking about communication being one of the most prominent problems in the relationship between contractor and architect and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind elaborating on that a little, and telling me what the most common communication problems would be and how you believe that these could be lessened from your stand point. Thanks agin.
ReplyDeleteThank you for speaking with our class. I really learned a lot. I have worked in a firm and it has sometimes been said that contractors send RFIs without even attempting to try to figure things out in an attempt to cover all their basis just in case. My question for you is, how do you feel about this? In your experience do you take extra time to figure something out or do you send an RFI just in case?
ReplyDeleteMr. Simpson, I would like you to expand further on the design build system in architecture these days. Because it seems like what a contractor views as design build is different than what an architect might view as design build. you said that in design build the architect should answer to the contractor but earlier in the semester we talked to an architect who owns and runs his own design build architecture firm. I was just wondering if you could expand on what I might be confused about and if in fact these are two different things.
ReplyDeleteLexie Lowers says:
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Kristin's response and question regarding RFI's, I personally thought that RFI's were educational. I worked in a firm and enjoyed getting a list of RFI's, finding that we had the answers, and pointing them out. In cases that we really weren't clear, I enjoyed finding out the answers and relaying them. This was a great exercise in architectural practice and allowed me to get to know my project better and take more ownership over it.
Mr. Simpson,
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to come speak with our class. It was very interesting and helpful to hear another perspective from an industry that works closely with architects. What would you say was the most important component to the architect contractor relationship? I too have heard that it is not always a positive relationship. What, in your opinion, can help the two work together more harmoniously? Thank you again.
I would also like to apologize for the inattention myself and others gave you during your presentation time. With this new format, I neglected to consider how my appearance would be represented on your end. Thank you for your time and patience.
ReplyDeleteMy question is whether you would consider it more beneficial for an architect to work for a contractor for a period of time before pursuing their professional license.
Hello and thank you for your time last tuesday. I took a class called architecture internship last year and it taught me alot about rfi's and rfq's, it wass a good experiance. A question do you think a contractor having design build experiance would be more successful than an Architect?
ReplyDeleteThank you again for coming and speaking with our class. My question has to deal with a more personal level, I was curious what made you go towards the construction side of buildings instead of the design side?
ReplyDeleteMr. Vaughn,
ReplyDeleteThank you for speaking to our class last Tuesday. I have a question regarding architect/contractor relationships. I your experience, do you prefer an architect who is constantly engaged during the construction phase of a project, or one who is more hands-off and allows for more contractor freedom?