MyFloridaCode.com

Eric,

I think the answer is that we live in a free country, and a representative  
republic. Sure it's getting less and less free every day because people  
with suggestions such as yours are wanting to add just one more layer of  
law to an already burdomsome process. I just completed a repair of a house  
that had an Architect design it, where the floorplan for the second story  
continous load path occurred 2 feet past the bearing point of the first  
floor bearing wall. Sure this was difficult to see due to the design of the  
house, but if I had designed it myself, I promise you I would have caught  
it. The house is beautifully designed with pages and pages of details on  
everything from the trim detail at each door to the exact radius of the  
stucco pediment designs. Yes, the Architect did a wonderful job of  
detailing everything, but he failed to do the very basic job of designing a  
safe house. The code is there for safety, and regardless of the  
overwhelming evidence of this architects qualifications, he failed to meet  
the basic requirements of designing a safe structure. In this particular  
case, we were required to hire an engineer because the building official  
felt the repair was outside the scope of the architects license. In any  
event, I think your suggestion that an Architect be hired is self-serving,  
and not really meant to assure further safety of the project.

I personally feel that architects do a wonderful job of making spaces more  
useable and picking out material that will last over time; all of which are  
important in commercial applications for making project cost effective.  
However, this advantage is overcome quickly in the residential applications  
as an architect cannot reinvent the wheel with regard to residential  
properties. Their knowlege to create spaces that are more useable in  
residential applications is not needed. Their ability to create a continous  
load path situation is equaled by a majority of contractors. Additionally,  
I feel that most homeowners tend to copy other designs and materials that  
they see on other model homes, so that further lessens the need for an  
architect on the residential front. Additionally, there are other layers of  
protection such as subcontractors and building departments that will catch  
other items the homeowner may have missed. Sure, there will the the  
occassional item that slips through the cracks, but that happens already  
even when an architect is involved in the process.

Ace

On Apr 14, 2010 7:06pm, Ken Rodgers <Ken at artisanbilt.com> wrote:






























> I have a wonderful suggestion…why don't we try to

> answer the man's original question instead of using it as an excuse to

> unzip our pants?? I don't disagree with most of the points

> mentioned from either side but think they could be presented in a more

> professional manner and then only after addressing the original question.

> Whether you agree with it or not he is still operating within the code  
> isn't

> he?







> Just my humble suggestion to keep this as a forum and not a

> chopping block.







> Ken



> Residential Contractor















> From: codetalk-bounces at myfloridacode.com

> [mailto:codetalk-bounces at myfloridacode.com] On Behalf Of Eric Kuritzky


> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 2:52 PM


> To: Building Officials Association of Florida, Inc.;

> codetalk at myfloridacode.com


> Subject: [Florida Code Talk] To all my professional associates

















> 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 I'm trying to push is some income source for architects or

> engineers, or that I'm 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 I'm 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 'less than

> knowledgeable' construction professionals.





> Please.





> No branch of this industry is without it's 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 don't 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 don't

> 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 TV's and Ford 350

> dually's 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 it's

> 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 we're 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. I'm 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 contractor's company folds, it's 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. I'll go back to being quiet....for a

> while.




























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