MyFloridaCode.com

Soap box time....

I am amazed at how, when I suggest architects and engineers should be a
required part of the residential design and document process, fully knowing
the exceptions in codes and statutes, how bizarrely defensive everyone gets,
as if the only thing I¹m trying to push is some income source for architects
or engineers, or that I¹m trying to put residential designer out of
business.  I work with some excellent residential designers.  So many
participants out there seem to think that Hurricane Andrew, which set in
motion the most radical code changes in the country, meant oh so little to
residential construction, as if I¹m totally ignorant.

Please.  

The residential exemption is purely political.

And this repeated mantra that architects are ignorant of the codes, which
justifies their exclusion from residential construction.  No one ever
suggests the less than qualified contractors or municipal representatives
that are equally represented in the ranks of  the Œless than knowledgeable¹
construction  professionals.

Please.  

No branch of this industry is without it¹s weak links.

But those of us who are tested, educated and licensed know that there is a
regulatory board or two, a national licensing and code agency or three,
that we ultimately must answer to, besides our own conscience.  Our ability
to practice what we do is subject to scrutiny, and can readily be taken
away.

If I might be a bit of a smart ass for moment....(really, just this
once?)......architects and engineers don¹t make the 15%-20% that many
builders make on homes (yes, when the economy is ticking away as it used
to...no one is making squat right now, including architects, so I don¹t want
to hear about it.  Homeowners all too often try to build their own home to
avoid that 15%-20% markup.  Stupid as they are.).  On the best, biggest
custom homes, they might make 10%.  And they assume remarkable liability, as
we all are.

At what point does adding a layer of protection for a few thousand dollars
not make sense in the construction of the biggest investment anyone
makes....their HOME.

Should all those other little code requirements, which all cost something,
be routinely excluded from homes?  Better windows, doors? Wind resistant
exteriors? Smoke detectors? Arc fault or GFI?  Egress windows in bedrooms?

History has shown that the industry has not collapsed from the ever
increasing costs placed on construction from ever more demanding codes.  No
one stops buying homes.  No one stops putting 60 inch plasma TV¹s and Ford
350 dually¹s in their garage, or bass boats, or jet skis, or anything else.
Yet everyone yells about the sky falling.

But our responsibility is the security and safety of that home and it¹s
contents, whatever it might be.

And if architects and engineers are so ignorant of the codes, why not
eliminate them from all construction, and let those wonderful commercial
contractors design hospitals, hotels, city halls, commercial buildings, etc?
Why?  Because we actually do know what we¹re doing more than we get credit
for.

But we are no more perfect than everyone else.  There are miscreants on all
professions, even architects and engineers.   I have seen too many building
departments approve plan stamping by engineers of the most offensive sets of
plans. I¹m reviewing a suit now on a multi-story condo project, the plan
approval of which should not have happened. But we are the first, and
usually the last line of defense.  Once the building department signs the
CO, and the contractor¹s company folds, it¹s usually the architects and
engineers left standing to face the problems.

But I digress, as usual.

Those that know me should appreciate that my interest is in the public and
the quality of my own profession.  I prepare better than average plans, I
consult with building departments, I respect and work with contractors, and
my obligation as a member of the Board of Architecture has required me to
punish far too many of my own profession to not comprehend all that is
really associated with what we do.

So why should homes be excluded?  Really, why?

And $$$$ is not the answer.

Thank you for your indulgence. I¹ll go back to being quiet....for a while.





-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://myfloridacode.com/pipermail/codetalk/attachments/20100414/2f5dc86d/attachment.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 58150 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://myfloridacode.com/pipermail/codetalk/attachments/20100414/2f5dc86d/attachment.jpe