Okay, someone will eventually take the bait and respond to this post...There have been two occasions when I have seen architects just sit in their chair with a look of pain while their CLIENT attempts to tell the code official how to interpret the code in a creative way. They look to their architect for back-up and then get angry when their architect just sits there and shrugs his shoulders.
It was especially difficult when the client is a loud-mouth attorney trying to build several eight-plex apartments without automatic fire sprinkler systems. Three alternative options were given to avoid the fire sprinkler system but the attorney wanted to fight with the code officials rather than consider any alternative. I suggested that he change the IBC code and that sent him out the door with a false sense of hope. I haven't seen him for several months now and he still does not have a building permit. The architect is respected in the building community and I know that he is caught between a rock and a hard spot. I would hate to see him get sued by his own client - an attorney - for not finding a "solution" to this problem that his jack-ass-client has created.
Another case involves a church that has never had a certificate of occupancy for twenty years since they started meeting inside an old non-code-compliant building. Never-the-less, they wanted to expand. Several attempts have been made by the code officials over the years to make it legal. In spite of the extreme patience afforded by the City, the church pastor wants to play games instead. He hired an architect to design a large garage to park a few old buses. When the architect discovered the secret plan was to later convert this new 1,500 S.F. garage into their new sanctuary (without a building permit), he made a phone call to the building safety department. I doubt that this architect will ever get paid for this project.
I have several stories related to Asian restaurants. I like Chinese food so much that I considered moving to Shanghai (there were other reasons). And I have six brothers who are half Japanese. So please don't think I'm prejudiced. But I, personally, have never seen the planning for an Asian restaurant get put together without some interesting twists and turns. And, I have never seen an architect receive adequate (or final) payment for their work. I'm not certain why - perhaps it is just bad luck for architects to get involved in ethnic restaurants.
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AIA, NCARB, ICC, CSI
Plan Review Engineer
Registered Architect