In a message dated 98-04-01 08:44:25 EST, [log in to unmask] writes:

First off, thanks for the opportunity to gripe. Any angst in the following is
rhetorical.

>1)  Professionals should be paid for their services.

Agreed. But I don’t think non-professionals should go without being paid for
their services either. I think everyone should be paid for their services.
Including those in the oldest profession.

>2)  Contractors are not objective as to scope of work nor their client’s
overall needs.

Contractors do not have a corner on self-serving interests, I’ve worked with
design professionals of which I could easily say the same (I avoid them at all
cost, so please do not count yourselves as being accused). There is a gray
area where a contractor takes on the role of construction manager, in which it
is their business to pay attention to the client’s overall needs, in a
professional manner. I think it is individuals, not roles, that are either
objective and try to do well by their clients, or not. I’m admitting that
contractors/builders are not trained in looking at all of the problems of a
particular client. I suppose it would be nice if people would stop asking the
local carpenter to take a look at their creaky stairs. I’m often frustrated by
being asked to follow a roofer, being identified myself as a roofer, and then
my pointing out that the problem is in another area of the building envelope,
like the masonry parapet. But, Leland's argument justifys my anger when a
sloppy architect hands us a set of very poorly done documents that require us
to do an entire survey of the building and provide our repair recommendations
and alternates. There is not halo over any *role* in the construction process
that relieves anyone of doing their work to the best of their ability.

I’m stuck in estimating such a project now... a multi-million $ terra cotta
project that I feel I have NO chance of getting... yet I am being asked to
supplement the architect’s inability to serve the clients overall needs, a
client that we have a long-established relationship with. I do not want to
lose the client, at the same time I’m pissed at the architect for being
incompetent. A feeling that I am trying to repress. I have expressed some of
my feelings to the client, and realize that if I do not follow through there
are other contractors standing at the ready to fill in. Our arguments over the
nature of a contractor’s ethics become muddy at this point. What about the
customer’s ethics?

In the end someone will get the project, the building is in danger of falling
down (I think reflecting on the customer’s lack of taking responsibility
earlier on in the life of the structure), and more than likely a large wad of
$ will exchange hands, with an inevitable percentage of it being a rip-off to
those individuals, on the other side of the *customer* who actually have to
pay for the work. My reference is to the phenomena I have observed whereby
when a large amount of $ is moving that people (especially non-banker types
who get dazzled by numerical bullshit) tend to get easily confused and some of
it gets lost along the way. We could finance IPTW far into the next century
with a years worth of this type of syphoning off the NYC Transit Authority,
let alone ISTEA.

>You bring up the issue of "pretty pictures".  Reports should be about hard
work and good forensic analysis, not a marketing tool for contractors.

Possibly I am too flippant in calling them pretty pictures, but I get handed a
lot of Local Law 1080 reports that are nothing more than a bunch of pretty
pictures. I agree that we should all endeavor to try to provide relevant and
useful information. In a perfect world this might happen, in my world it is a
rare occurence that I strive to reduplicate as often as possible.

>The "ethical" contractor has a problem:

My feeling is that the contractor has an ethical obligation to serve the
overall needs of the customer. I realize there are other options.

>Rule number One is:  Nothing is for free.

I’m going to go look at a church this week that I understand has a lot of
problems. For whatever reason they did not go to other sources of help. I was
given a personal recommendation from another customer, the facilities manager
of a prestigious hospital. They had called him first, he took a look and told
them to call me. I will go there, for free, and will make the best assessment
of the situation that I can. If it requires that we go further, do water
tests, do a condition survey, etc. I will advise them that they get to pay for
the trouble. If it makes sense I will refer them to a design professional. I
might even be able to give them some free advice on getting funding. If I am
standing there and they ask me a simple question about what to do with their
property I will give them the best advice that I am able. Of course, I would
like the work. I will tell them this. At the same time, it is my demonstrated
willingness to tell the truth and step away from a project that caused the
referal from the hospital to occur in the first place. I was not expressing
that anyone should do anything for free... but that there are different ways
of getting compensated.

I gotta go do some work now.

Bye,
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