Conducting site visits during construction allows design professionals to manage and minimize risk if they are properly conducted. However, if site visits are not properly handled, they can expose you and your firm to additional risk. Here are some ideas for conducting quality site visits.
How Many Site Visits?
First, you need to determine how many site visits will occur. If the contract provides that your firm will make “periodic observations” as many of the standard forms of contracts do, you need to figure out when those should occur based upon your scope of work. They should be at key points during the construction and as apply to your scope of work. Discuss this with the Project team before construction starts. Prepare a written list of the site visits that you anticipate making and provide that list to everyone involved. That way if someone thinks those are not enough visits or are not properly timed, they can speak up. Also, make sure the general contractor knows when you plan to visits and notifies you when the work has reached the stage where you need to visit. If you intend to look at the foundation and the contractor proceeds with covering it up, it’s going to be too late.
If your contract specifies the number of visits you intend to make, you must make those visits. Nothing is worse than agreeing to make 12 visits in the contract and only making 8. If you agreed to do it, you must do it. Make sure the people on your project team know what is in the contract.
Your Site Visit Policy
Second, adopt a policy in your company that all site visits must be documented. You will be very frustrated if you have to help your attorneys prove that you went to the site by piecing together vague time records, mileage records and expense reports because the site visit was not properly documented. We have had to do this in more than one case. Create a standard site visit form to be used by all employees every single time they visit the site.
A Picture is worth a Thousand Words
Third, document the progress of the work. The easiest way to do so is to take photographs. However, be careful that the photographs are reviewed! We spent a good portion of a trial in Charleston, South Carolina looking at a photograph which plainly showed a deviation from the drawings concerning the number of pieces of rebar to be included in a column. Nothing is worse than taking a picture that shows a problem, but because no one actually looked at the pictures after they were taken, the issue was not identified.
If there is a deficiency, take a picture of it and send it along with your site report to everyone involved so that they know the issue and you have put them on notice of a problem.
Send the Right Person for the Job
Fourth, consider who you are sending to the site. It is very tempting to send a new EIT or intern architect to make site visits. The question is whether they have enough experience to know what they are reviewing and are diligent and forceful enough to do something about it. EIT’s and interns need to learn, but often it is better if they do so initially by accompanying an experienced professional to the site. If a less experienced employee makes site visits, it is imperative that a senior professional review the reports and pictures immediately following the visit for quality assurance. Likewise, it is important to send someone to the site who is familiar with the Project. Getting someone to fill in for the Project Architect may lead to missed issues.
Site visits can be a useful tool to minimize risk because you can intervene if there are questions or concerns about design issues. A careful and thoughtful review of your site visit policies and procedures will benefit your company and help you sleep more soundly at night.
If you have any questions about site visits or sample forms you could consider using, we are glad to help. The attorneys of Gibbes Burton are passionate about helping professionals and businesses to minimize risk and build success.