Examples:
1. Bollards to stop parking are put outside garages in the wrong place so do not do the job they were supposed to do.
2. Cold water stand put up pipes outside every stairwell on an estate completely unnecessarily.
Some are 20 feet apart or even closer to existing ones. They were supposed to be for the cleaner who doesn't need them as he already has a source of HOT water. Not all of them even work properly - one let only a dribble escape. They are extremely ugly and are now (residents hope) going to be removed.
The problem is that by the time a request goes through two or three hands and is put into work order form, only a very general description of the work to be done is noted. There are never specific drawings or even reference to material specs, colour, size specs.
Consequently subcontractors use what they have to hand in stock or what they can make the most profit on rather than what would look the best and do the best job.
Even more importantly, no thought is given to alternative design solutions. In the case of the stand pipes, if needed at all the best solution would have been small underground boxed taps with an attachment for a hose.
UPDATE/JUNE: Due to pressure from the TRA the water standpipes have now BEEN REMOVED!
The expense incurred was totally unnecessary - if only they had used something akin to my proposed "Purchasing, Design & Architectural Protocols" (see further below).
The current purchasing protocols deal only with budget and date specifics, not the design an effect of the work done.
Every work order should have gone through something like my suggested "Purchasing and Design Protocols" (see below) before being issued to a subcontractor to interpret as he wishes.
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