Facts of life

  • Thread starter Thread starter Slick Rick
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Duke
...fix all the coordination mistakes made by the engineers, where ductwork runs through light fixtures and there's no room for a sprinkler head (even though the mechanical and electrical engineer sit directly across from each other), and you'll need at least 48 hours to get the engineers to stop using the old version and update to the current floor plan (which was given to them 2 weeks ago when you thought it was final).
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This is my cue to jump in. I am the CAD Manager for an Electrical Engineer. Currently, we are putting most of our efforts into getting this out. It is our fourth Scheels building this year alone, all of which are similar, but vary (some are new construction, others remodeled Target stores, etc.), not to mention all of the "little" projects (in terms of size, not importance, right?) we have worked and are working on. With that out of the way, believe me when I tell you this - when I get updated plans sent to me, within the hour they are cleaned up, stripped down and in circulation. Maybe not necessarily XREF'd into the drawings, but we have a system for that, as well. :D

When working on a different Scheels project last year, a few of us were here at 3am to beat the noon deadline (because we had just received mechanical plans earlier that day and there were *goes to check* 181 heat pumps, not to mention AHU's, exhaust fans, etc. All told, 253 motors placed, wired and circuited in less than 24 hours while doing all of the other last minute drawing cleanups). It still dumbfounds me that we (Architectural and Electrical) can be so far along in the design and Mechanical is barely, or more accurately hasn't, started on design a week before the due date.

I just told one of the Engineers here about what I had written above and was relayed a story: An architect moved an exterior wall out a few feet. This required the Mechanical to up-size the AHU to accommodate the extra space. This required us to up-size the Switchgear to handle the larger AHU which required the room in which said Switchgear was located to be enlarged.

It is indeed a vicious cycle, but in the age of "I want it done yesterday" we just aren't given the time to go over the drawings as thoroughly as was the norm even 10 years ago.

Just as a point of interest, at least from my standpoint, at any given point, I am working on at least 3 and typically 6+ different projects a day. My time sheet get a bit messy most weeks. :lol:
 
When I did design at college we covered all sorts, it was more to do with road planning, brigdes that type of thing that we covered though as opposed to houses and offices ect. We did touch on thoes, but to cover them in more depth was a different course. But even in the side we did, we didn't copy anytihng from different plans, even if it wa something as seemingly trivial as doing a road with theo sets of traffic lights on it. You might think you can just copy the first sets details and move their location, but there's all the under road works that need to be considered, the interfaces and so on can sometimes be in vastly different positions also the road may be a different width, the pavement might be higher, there might be trees or other signs that need to be considered ect. By the time you have re-worked for everyting, you may as well have started from scratch anyway. I would assume there's such technicalities in a far more complex design, like an office building. Yes you can get away with a copy and a re-work but it's doing it that way that is more likely to lead you to one day missing something.
 
TB
This is my cue to jump in. I am the CAD Manager for an Electrical Engineer... believe me when I tell you this - when I get updated plans sent to me, within the hour they are cleaned up, stripped down and in circulation.
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You're hired.
It still dumbfounds me that we (Architectural and Electrical) can be so far along in the design and Mechanical is barely, or more accurately hasn't, started on design a week before the due date.
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Yup. And that's when they suddenly tell me that they need a 48"x72" duct chase somewhere in the middle of a plan that has been squeezed to death already in order to minimize the size of the building.
I just told one of the Engineers here about what I had written above and was relayed a story: An architect moved an exterior wall out a few feet. This required the Mechanical to up-size the AHU to accommodate the extra space. This required us to up-size the Switchgear to handle the larger AHU which required the room in which said Switchgear was located to be enlarged.

It is indeed a vicious cycle, but in the age of "I want it done yesterday" we just aren't given the time to go over the drawings as thoroughly as was the norm even 10 years ago.
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And adding those extra few feet was undoubtedly the result of trying to accomodate the client's 60,000sf program in the 50,000sf building they want to pay for.

No architect is perfect, and some are a lot less perfect than others. But the stuff that actually drives a building design is nothing like what they teach you in school - and in school, they never even talk about making money.
:dunce:
 
Duke
You're hired.
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EASIEST.
INTERVIEW.
EVER.
I think the wife might have an issue with picking up and moving, too. Thanks, though. :lol:

Duke
And adding those extra few feet was undoubtedly the result of trying to accomodate the client's 60,000sf program in the 50,000sf building they want to pay for.
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That is one of the nice things, and conversely the bad things about Scheels. They don't have an issue with approving a $500 light fixture. Fourty of them. They then turn around and say they want to have the brightest parking lot in the area. We tried to talk them out of this, but they were pretty adamant. Light levels were taken, the drawings changed and the new fixtures ordered. After they were installed, they still weren't happy because a car lot 2 miles away was brighter. We had the architect on our side for this one - he told them they had a $40,000,000 building and should be lighting that, not the parking lot.

The customer is most definitely not always right. You just have to let them think they are.

Duke
No architect is perfect, and some are a lot less perfect than others. But the stuff that actually drives a building design is nothing like what they teach you in school - and in school, they never even talk about making money.
:dunce:
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And sometimes you just don't make any money. The kicker is sometimes you're okay with that.

In case you're intested, I took some pictures of the last Scheels we completed. It should give you an idea of what we are dealing with.
 
TB
The customer is most definitely not always right. You just have to let them think they are.
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That's one more for "Facts of life" 👍

In case you're intested, I took some pictures of the last Scheels we completed. It should give you an idea of what we are dealing with.
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Nice, the biggest construction we've done was a Stop & Shop supermarket in upstate NY or remodeling a huge 5 story building in Manhattan. :indiff:





Ciao!
 
Ofteen noted and "Politics: the art of Letting Them have it Your Way."
 
Ozzy.
You can buy PS3 with time, the more time you stay outside camping for it, the more you're likely to get it ;)

Ciao!
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Unless you camp outside forever, and never even go inside the store :sly:


Here are a few facts (or jokes, you choose ):
  • You aren't totally useless. You can be used as a bad example.
  • The one who laughs last, didn't get the joke.
  • You can either agree with me or be wrong.
And a longer one:

Heaven is where the police are Britisch, the chefs Italian, the mechanics German, the lovers French and it's all organised by the Swiss.

Hell is where the police are German, the chefs Britisch, the mechanics French, the lovers Swiss and it's all organised by the Italians.

Translated or/and adapted from some funny t-shirts :dunce::)
 
I used to have a T-Shirt with that on.

People didn't seem to get it, probably because no-one tried it with a heavy russian accent.
 
I can't figure out how to say "shirt" with a russian accent. So I don't get it.
 
Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they can't see you.

:scared:
 
When you go shopping with the wife, and after three hours of walking around, always expect to revisit the first shop she visited, only to realise the item she saw two three ago and now wants more than anything in the world, sold and out of stock.
 
keef
I can't figure out how to say "shirt" with a russian accent. So I don't get it.
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"Zheerrrt", with a slight roll to the Rs.
 
Most people believe they're above average.

If at first you don't succeed, sky diving is definitely not for you.
 
In all honesty, you'll never find a gorgeous woman driving to work before 7am.

As well, you'll never find same said woman walking a dog before 8am.
 
No rules are absolute.

70% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

There is a vast chasm of difference between Beautiful and Gorgeous.
 
Cute, Pretty, and Beautiful are different things and are not necessarily ranked in order of attractiveness.
 
My favourite, from a 2nd yr engineering design professor:
Foolproof is an oxymoron.
​

Meaning (as subsequently explained by my prof):
There will always be a bigger idiot.
​
 
You aren't nearly as good a driver as you think you are.

Even so, you're probably still better than your mother.
 
No matter if you bite your lip or tongue, stub your toe or smash a finger, you'll do it again, in the exact same spot, within 24 hours.

As soon as you put your shotgun away, the doves take to the skies. (Them bastards do it to me every time!)
 

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