Responsibility between disciplines
The typical boundary situations
Section titled “The typical boundary situations”Who designs the connection
Section titled “Who designs the connection”A penetration through the structure: the mechanical engineer wants it, the structural engineer allows it — but who draws it and who checks it?
Who is responsible for the build-up
Section titled “Who is responsible for the build-up”On a smaller project the architect, on a larger one the building-element designer. Fire and energy compliance, though, belong to other disciplines — and the build-up touches all three.
Who supplies the load data
Section titled “Who supplies the load data”The weight of a plant item, the load on a balcony, a photovoltaic array: these are data somebody has to give the structural engineer.
Who coordinates the routes
Section titled “Who coordinates the routes”Several disciplines run in the same layer — somebody has to decide the order.
Who is responsible for the shop drawings
Section titled “Who is responsible for the shop drawings”They are produced from the detailed design but matched to the manufacturing technology. The boundary has to be defined precisely. Shop drawings.
Why custom is not enough
Section titled “Why custom is not enough”Because it differs from project to project. An experienced team develops a routine, but as soon as a new participant joins — or a discipline is external — the assumption becomes a mistake.
Responsibility is also a legal question: a designer is liable for their own design, and the boundary between disciplines also determines how far that extends. Designer liability.
What has to be recorded
Section titled “What has to be recorded”At the start of the appointment, in writing:
- Which discipline designs what — item by item, not in general terms.
- Who supplies which data to whom, and when.
- Who coordinates, and with what decision-making authority.
- What is produced at which stage, and what the approval route is.
- Who checks consistency, and with what tool.
- What happens on a change: who notifies whom.
Change control
Section titled “Change control”Most trouble is not in the original design but in the change: somebody changes something and the other disciplines do not hear about it.
So the change control arrangement is at least as important as the original division of work.
The point
Section titled “The point”“I thought you were doing that” — the sentence behind most design mistakes. Writing the boundaries down takes half an hour; repairing the consequences takes weeks.