Project Changes and Their Ramifications (CE) (PjM) (PDD)

Changes during the course of a project are a major reason behind the creation of a lot of records. If handled poorly, changes are also a major source of litigation. Procedures for how to address and handle changes are thoroughly discussed in standard agreement documents and the general conditions of the contract, offered for use by the AIA. These documents establish a way ahead of time, for navigating through these rough patches and keeping relationships between project participants, on an even keel.

Changes are absolutely inevitable in a construction project, since it is impossible to predict every eventuality. For the architect, tasked with shepherding the owner and the contractor through changes during the building process, experience will be a valuable asset. Especially the experience gained by the many years other architects have dealt with them, and the best ways they have found to keep a project sailing smoothly through sometimes rough waters. That experience and those best practices, are already embodied in the recommended family of AIA documents.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel, especially the steering wheel.

Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to:

• Examine the role that poor communication can play in project changes
• Determine the primary ways that changes are generated during construction projects
• Recognize an architect’s responsibilities as a designated decision maker
• Discuss situations in which a construction change directive must be used instead of a change order
• Describe how time is defined and project duration is determined
• Evaluate the impact of partial occupancy upon project completion

Paul Spite, BS, BA
AFD Consulting, Founder and Principal

Paul is a Registered Architect with over forty years of experience, a course developer and has been a teacher in multiple venues in the past. He is also a writer in many venues, having developed many studies, a few published articles, numerous short stories, multiple screenplays, two non-fiction manuals for church design and one novel. More to the focus of this endeavor, Paul has also created presentations for twenty-six lunch and learn presentations for building material manufacturers, webinars covering the subjects of Aging-in-Place and Architectural Acoustics and eleven distance learning courses for architects, engineers and contractors. As he nears retirement from managing his small architectural practice, Paul hopes to focus even more of his energy on teaching and on course development.