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adversarial and toxic
Do you usually do contract admin on trad jobs? I know a lot of people lament the loss of influence but I'd really rather not. Heard from a (non-domestic) client about a year after we'd 'finished' a small project that they were still arguing over the final account. Very glad the QS was the CA on that one.
Pricing is a difficult one. There is some limited training in methods depending on where you study but it's very rare to find a designer who's actually skilled in it. Unless you're also the contractor, you're guessing what someone else will price it at, which introduces a different set of variables and some people think is pointless anyway. But of course if you're the client, especially an inexperienced one, you look to the designer to have some clue of what they're designing in relation to cost.
hoefla-
some clue of what they're designing in relation to cost
Pretty essential if you’ve given them a budget!
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Yes I do CA a lot now (current office culture) and I would mostly rather not too but I can't lie that I don't find doing the official paperwork a lil' bit satisfying from a ... I am an actual grown up doing a thing...point of view - which is not usually how I feel.
dbr
Sheppz
Sounds like you’re doing it right.
The most painful jobs I’ve run have been where a contractor has turned out to have underpriced and is then doing everything then can to claw back - getting contractural and inflating claims. It becomes adversarial and toxic.
It’s a very good reason to find a niche sector and stick to a group of contractors you have worked with successfully in the past.