Make sure you allow enough time in your project plan for designs and drawings to be approved, internally as well as by the client.

It is common to need 1-2 weeks for each step of FDR (Final Design Review), IDC (Interdisciplinary Check), Verification, IFC (Issue For Construction) etc reviews and approvals, especially if more than one person must approve these.

It is important to keep track of the approval status of these and follow up on people to review and sign them. I often find that although people get notified, they overlook signing the reviews or it sits on a desk waiting and gets buried.

If all the approvers are collocated, it is often worth having someone walk the documents around personally to each person for their approval, this can dramatically reduce the time taken and stop the documents being buried under other work or being forgotten about.

Tagged with: approval • drawings • review • verification

Filed under: Design • Documentation

Get to know the usual time schedules for producing plans, drawings, and designs in your organisation.
Estimates may be 2 weeks but people with experience in the organisation may know to double this when told 2 weeks by the design department.

Project managers should keep up with the designers for their project regularly to see what they are working on and what their priorities are.
Resources often get pulled onto other tasks/projects, so it important you stay informed.

Possibly escalate to the projects director if necessary.

Tagged with: design schedule • drawings • schedule

Filed under: Communication • Design • Planning

Make sure drawings have cautionary notes for areas of potential conflict (e.g. electrical wiring near nail fasteners).

Tagged with: conflict • drawings

Filed under: Design

It is important to clarify the ownership of drawings your company produces.
Make sure the contract or agreements clarify the ownership of drawings and documents.

Some clients may expect the drawings or designs to be their property once a project is delivered. If your company’s drawings or designs are proprietary or are designs you use on other projects you will need to state that your company keeps the ownership in the contract.

If you don’t have this in the contract, it can make a difficult sticking point with the client at a later stage in the project.

Tagged with: Client • Contract • designs • drawings • ownership

Filed under: Contract • Design