Contract Documents

Produce quality contract documents

For most engineering work, the final deliverable is the document that will direct the construction of the project. The first step to produce quality documents is to have a plan to do so. Plan the work effort required in conjunction with the engineering and CAD technician staff. Have the client approve the written design criteria and then widely distributed it to everyone involved in the documents’ production. The more complex the design, the higher the risk involved in design and documentation. Make the client aware of this and engage the client in a discussion about simplifying the design or providing the engineer with a higher compensation to account for such complexity.

There are several suggestions to help improve the documentation quality. One of the best tools to help produce quality documents in a shorter time frame is the computer-aided design and drafting software that has become available in the past few years. It has greatly increased productivity and quality. Take advantage of it. Prepare job specifications during the design development phase in order to ensure the specifications and drawings are coordinated. Take advantage of repetition in design elements and use the knowledge of more experienced staff members to avoid spending wasted time “re-inventing the wheel.”