I routinely hear consulting firms complaining about being asked to do much more than their consulting fees will cover. This past December, Engineered Systems featured “HVAC infrastructure opportunities” — an integrated project delivery (IPD) niche business profit center, and I suggested how to consolidate and minimize the number of project contract drawings needed to build the job. So, in sync with my December column, I will expand on this in a two-part discussion emphasizing that consulting engineers rethink what contract document “deliverables” should be provided when contracted to work with the mechanical contractor on an integrated project delivery method job. Remember, “time is money,” and every additional contract drawing produced takes time and money, and, with IPD, the design engineer can actually reduce his or her effort without reducing the design fee.
Since I began designing HVAC systems and producing contract documents that consist of construction drawings and specifications, there have been industry standards to producing these documents for a building program. Below are a few examples.