Case #2: Blueprint Problems.          

Data:

You don't often smile on your way to work, but this Tuesday morning you smile about the article you read in the Westwood News.  On the front page is a picture of your employer, George Treadwell, shaking the hand of the Westwood mayor, Jim Smith.  The article announces the City Planning Commission's decision to approve Treadwell's preliminary plans to construct a Conference Center on the banks of the Plum River.  The center will include restaurants, boutiques, movie theaters, and two 30-story towers, one for offices and the other to house the Great Places Hotel.  Best of all, you are the assistant project manager for the development.  You are happy to see the project get this press coverage.

You are still smiling as you make your way through the corridors of Treadwell Developers, Inc.  Of course, you knew a week ago that the City Planning Commission's decision would be announced Monday night, but it looks good to see it in print and appear in public.  Treadwell Developers has subcontracted the Conference Center project to Alspaugh, Jordan and Vineski (AJV) Associates, an architectural firm regularly employed by Treadwell Developers.  Though the official announcement came last night, preliminary designs for the Conference Center were approved by the City Planning Commission last month.  The Planning Commission is now in the process of doing a second review.  They are looking over drawings that respond to comments they made in their initial review.

Thinking about the City Planning Commission's second review has affected your good mood somewhat.  You wonder whether AJV sent the new drawings for review to the Planning Commission on time as they promised.  AJV is a first-rate design firm, but they often do not pay sufficient attention to procedural details required to please local government offices who must review and approve designs.

You had difficulties getting AJV to submit initial drawings of the Conference Center on time.  Randy McNamara, your boss and the project manager for development, was angry last month when he received copies of the preliminary drawings thirty minutes before he was scheduled to meet for the first time with the City Planning Commission.  Fortunately, the Planning Commission had received their copies. [AJV is supposed to send copies of all drawings to both the City Planning Commission for review and to Treadwell.] You have repeatedly tried your best to make AJV move faster and pay more attention to detail, but you have had trouble dealing with John Alspaugh, who handles AJV's commercial projects.  Alspaugh is a talented architect who often plays the part of the artist who can't be bothered with mundane details -- like submitting documents for review on time.  You had to make several phone calls and do lots of double-checking to get him to act.  His behavior annoys you, but you have to admit that Alspaugh's got real talent.  He has real ability to design commercial spaces that are both beautiful and functional.

When you reach your office, you still have Alspaugh on your mind. You decide to check a tube of drawings from AJV that arrived COD late yesterday.  You expect that the drawings show changes made in response to the city's first review of the plans.  Alspaugh was supposed to send copies of his revised drawings to the city by overnight mail last Tuesday so the Planning Commission could conduct a second review.  You hope they arrived on time.  The second review meeting is scheduled for Wednesday of next week.  Well, you think, at least you have the copies to show your boss, Randy McNamara.

Just as you finish laying the drawings out on your drafting board, Randy drops by your office.  He does not look happy.

"I just got a call from Elizabeth Beauchamp of the City Planning Commission," he says.

"Oh?  They got the drawings from AJV, didn't they?"

"Yes, but they are having trouble reading them.  They claim the changes are not clearly marked.  Either that or the architect didn't make the corrections specified by the Commission."

"I've got the drawings right here," you tell Randy.  "They arrived late yesterday . . . COD.  I finally got those guys to send stuff to the city by priority mail at their expense, but they still send copies to us when they get around to it -- by COD!"

"Let's have a look," Randy says.  "There are a couple of things I'm really concerned about.  Liz Beauchamp says she can't find 'tenant use' functions that should be clearly marked on the drawings.  [Architects mark "tenant use" functions on drawings by adding lettering to indicate the type of business to be conducted in a specified space.  The words "theater," "restaurant," and "department store" describe typical tenant use functions.]  She can't find the change in a fire corridor location that we agreed to make when the Commission objected."

You quickly scan the drawings, with Randy peering over your shoulder.

"Why did they send such low-quality prints?" Randy asks.  "Looks like these are sepias. They should have made photocopies from the original tracings."  [Sepias are created by placing a drawing over light-sensitive paper; then exposing it to a bright light.  The lines of the original drawing are transferred as opaque lines.  Often architects mark design changes on a sepia transparency to avoid marking up the original tracing.  Sepias have less definition and clarity than original tracings.  Hence a print made from a sepia will often be muddy.]   

"Absolutely," you agree.  "Look at this; the outlining they used to point out a change in tenant use function, from 'retail shop' to 'restaurant' in the northeast wing, blocks out the lettering indicating the function. [Outlining refers to the circles that architects draw around portions of a drawing to indicate changes.]  No wonder Liz was confused about identifying tenant functions."

"Here is that fire corridor change," Randy says, looking at another drawing.  "Liz couldn't find it because they didn't outline it.  They were supposed to outline every change made since the last Commission review!"

You nod, sorting through the drawings to find the one that shows the remainder of the northeast wing.  Struggling to figure out which drawing takes up where the other leaves off, you notice, "They didn't draw match lines . . . [Match lines are drawn to indicate how to match a drawing that spans two or more sheets of paper, so that the image is continuous.]  

"Wait a minute," Randy interrupts, thumbing again through the prints to check the dates and ID numbers in the corners.  "I don't think this is AJV's latest set of prints.  Didn't we meet with them on the 14th?  These prints are dated the 10th.  We reviewed that set and made an additional change at the meeting on the 14th."

"Right -- it was the outside fire stairwell for the theater," you recall.  "Sure enough, it's not here," you add.

McNamara thumbs through the drawings one more time, shaking his head.  "Listen, I want you to get on the phone with John Alspaugh right away to discuss this with him.  Have him send a new set of drawings to us by early afternoon, delivered by courier.  I want you to review it and then get Alspaugh to send a duplicate set to Liz Beauchamp by late this afternoon.  If Beauchamp gets good prints by tomorrow at the latest, the commission will be ready to meet with us next week.  If not, we may have to reschedule for next month.  We can't afford to lose that time over errors like these.  Follow up your call to Alspaugh with a letter stipulating what you want them to do about prints from now on."  Randy stops to reflect a moment.  "This is unprofessional.  This is embarrassing.  Let's hope George doesn't get wind of this."

You nod your head in agreement, telling Randy you will get on it right away.  He is satisfied that you have the situation under control.  You begin to plan a strategy for dealing with AJV.  What is it?

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