Paul Sweet
SAWHORSE
How can an A/E design a repair or renovation without visiting the site, or at least have someone knowledgeable document it for him?
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My architect made an assumption about a crucial fire wall in a burned-out structure
- Thread starter Bonnylassie
- Start date
arwat23
SAWHORSE
Very cheaply.
Yankee Chronicler
SAWHORSE
Therein lies the problem. It's what I often describe as a race to the bottom. For many years, architects have competed for work not on the basis of the quality of their work but based on the lowest fees. Food and rent don't change, so the only way an architect can lower his/her fees is by doing more projects and less work per project.
As a licensed architect, in my opinion it is absolutely irresponsible for an architect to draw up fire repairs for a building without having been to the site and thoroughly documented the existing conditions. But what I think doesn't matter. As I posted above, legally architects (and professional engineers) are bound to practice according to the ordinary standard of care. And the "ordinary standard of care" is what another reasonable professional in the same geographic area would do under similar circumstances. Not what they should do -- what they would do.
I have often joked that I would be a great expert witness for the defense of any architect being sued for malpractice, because I can truthfully testify that they all suck. In my area, at least, the ordinary standard of care is no care whatsoever.
Is there anything in IBC or IRC that defines a "demising wall" or requires it to be rated or extend to the roof? If it's intended to be a fire wall serving as a party wall per 706.1.1, or a fire partition separating units in the same building per 420.2, that's what it should be labeled. A competent contractor might be expected to notice that a fire wall or fire partition is partially missing, if that's how the existing construction is identified.
In the early days of my time as a fly in the ointment, a demising wall was a wall between a conditioned space and a non conditioned space. The common example is the wall between a house and attached garage. Now the term is used for many applications such as between tenants in a strip mall and separating row houses.