We were working on the layout of the roof plan for a large, irregularly shaped building, designed with the structure gently warped to shed water to the edges. A drafter was adding roof drains to the plan, and I noticed that he was locating some of the drains about half way up the slope between the low point and the high elevation. I asked him why he was doing that, and he replied that he thought the drains at mid-slope would collect half the runoff on its way to the low point.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," I said. "We usually locate the roof drains near the low point." He looked skeptical until I added, "It's office policy."
Manufacturers of single ply roofing membranes offer warranties that vary in duration and conditions of coverage. The warranties typically include a lengthy list of requirements and exclusions. One of the most notable exclusions, which appears in all caps and/or boldface type on some warranties, is a statement that excludes representations or promises made by a representative of the manufacturer which differ from the provisions of the published warranty.
The 'sales rep' exclusion highlights a common dilemma. The manufacturer's sales rep typically has to please several "masters". The rep has to please the architect and project owner in order to get the manufacturer's product or system specified. Then the rep has to please the roofing contractor, the first-line customer who will actually purchase and pay the manufacturer (or distributor) for the product. And, of course, the rep has to please the manufacturer with productive sales. In construction, full payment usually follows installation, so the manufacturer's rep may be involved in site visits, inspections, and warranty processing related to project completion. In order to get paid upon project completion, the rep has to pursue the satisfaction of all these parties - the roofing contractor, the architect, the owner, the manufacturer, and maybe even a few others. That may be a tall order under circumstances where the interests of those parties are not all aligned, and one outcome may be a promise that cannot be kept. The 'sales rep' exclusion suggests that manufacturers have had experience with reps making promises that are contrary to the terms of a published warranty, and the exclusion protects the manufacturers from that problem.
Considering again the question "Who is the customer?", I recall a conversation with a manufacturer's rep several years ago. We were concerned with the quality of work that was being done by a roofing contractor, and we thought the manufacturer's rep might be able to help persuade the roofing contractor to do a better job. The rep's response to our request was very enlightening: "I can't really help you out with that," he said. "The roofing contractor is my customer."
"Where am I supposed to plug in my computer?" asked the owner's Food Service Director as we surveyed the room.
"Oh, we did not realize you would be using a computer in the storage room," I said. I thought she had confused this storage room with her new office, which was located in another area.
"This is not a storage room," she replied. "It's my office. I told the kitchen consultant that I wanted this room to be my office. I did not want my office in the other area. He said he would take care of it."
When I looked at the food service equipment drawings, I realized the kitchen consultant really had changed this space from a storage room to an office, just as the Food Service Director requested. Unfortunately, he did not share the information about the request with anyone else, so the room had architectural, mechanical, and electrical features that were appropriate for storage use and not for office use.
Consultants should report back to the architect any owner requests to them for design changes. The changes could lead to other changes, and the overall costs and consequences may be such that the owner - once aware of them - would make a different decision. Consulting agreements can include provisions for reporting separate meetings and communications with the owner. It is also good practice to cover communication protocols in project kick-off meetings and to issue periodic reminders, especially when you are aware of a possible upcoming meeting between a consultant and a representative of your client. The clients may also benefit from reminders about communication protocols and communication channels for requesting changes.
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