Architect Quit What Now?

[Ben C.]

Hello,

I had the unlucky misfortune of getting a very tough building inspector on a project I'm working on. 

The building inspector is asking for specs on what type of bolts should be used to attach the lally column plates to the footing and the architect blew up (said he wasn't an engineer) and called the town and took himself off the job as the architect on record (I kid you not). 

What do I do now?

[Vahe Ohannessian]

@Tom W. I don't known what you do for a living but you're right on with your comments about the roles of the architect, inspector and contractor. Sounds like you've been in the field for a while.

@Ben C. I read some of the earlier threads but I was hesitating to comment (and blame the architect as some have) because I didn't have a full picture of what was going on. I still don't, but when you explained that the contractor had to open up concrete to expose the footing for inspection, it made sense. I'm a licensed architect and a contractor myself, and I can assure you the contractor was the one who should have known better than to cover a footing before an inspection. To throw the responsibility to deal with this problem on the architect who didn't have anything to do with it would be frustrating to me too, so I understand why he pulled himself off the project - my guess is that this issue was not the only thing that put him over the edge.

MY SUGGESTION:

I hope you're not done paying the contractor. Take responsibility for finding a solution and deduct whatever it costs you from your final payment to the contractor. If you've already paid him in full then the cost will be out of your own pocket, unfortunately. You should never pay a GC in full until the permit is closed out.

If the original architect would be willing to provide what the inspector is looking for, offer to pay him hourly for the extra work, and hopefully deduct from final payment to GC. If the original architect is no longer an option, find another architect or a structural engineer, offer to pay them hourly, and again, deduct from GC's final payment if possible. If you're going to find someone new, I would suggest a structural engineer instead of an architect, because many architects don't do structural design, they will hire a structural engineer to work under their "umbrella". The footing, lally column and anchor bolt issue is more of a structural design than architectural. In any case, I would not trust the GC to find someone to provide what the inspector is looking for. And by the way, make sure that whoever you hire also inspects the contractor's final installation and approves it before you get it inspected, because the inspector will be looking for the design professional's seal of approval.

I hope this helps, keep us posted!