Third Party Construction Document Review Advice

[Tyler S.]

Hi Everyone,

I have been in the commercial construction industry for just over 15 years.  Half of that time, I have worked in the field for a general contractor and the other half I've spent working for a developer.  During the design phase, I always perform a construction document review right around the time that we submit for permits.  During my review, I am looking for any and every thing that may lead to a change order during construction. 

When I present my review notes to the design team, I approach it from the mindset that we are all a team trying to build something in the most efficient and economical way possible.  However, a lot of design team members seem like they are annoyed that I found issues that need to be resolved.  Just as a brief example, there were a few gas grills on one project.  I looked up the specified model on the manufacturer's website and downloaded the product data.  While reading the product data, I noticed the grill required a larger natural gas line than the construction drawings called for.  The product data also called for vents if the grill was going to be installed in a built-in masonry assembly but the designer did not include vents in the CDs.

The questions I have are:

1) What advice would you give to try and show the design team members that the items I find are solely meant to help the project avoid as many cost and schedule impacts as possible?

2) If you are a developer or architect, what are the deciding factors when it comes to having a third party review the construction documents?

Thanks ahead of time for any input!