What is the process of a minor change of the work if you realize something minor is wrong on the site visit? I thought you would order a minor change of the work if it doesn’t change the contract time or sum at that site visit. Or would you put it in the field report and then discuss with the owner and gc?
I know that in a change order it must be signed by all 3 parties, and a construction change directive must be signed by the owner an architect for a directive to the gc since the gc doesn’t agree with the change. So you would have to discuss with all parties relevant and agree on those cases.
Hi @sergioclaure93 ,
Great question!
Minor changes in the work occur ALL the time. Depending on exactly how minor you might be able to enact it as a memo or a field report note. It’s likely that you will be on an OAC (Owner, Architect, Contractor) meeting after your site visit. A minor change or clarification might be verbally discussed after this and the minor change clarified in email after. You might also document this as a sketch which you issue out to everone.
Another way you might introduce a smaller change (or clarification) is through an ASI (Architects Supplemental Instruction). This is a slightly more formal way to issue out small changes and typically will include some sort of clarifying or revising sketch.
Hopefuly most of these are clarifications or very small details that don’t require too much discussion and occur regularly over the course of construction. However, if it is more significant you likely will and should run it past the owner first. Usually this happens over email or conversation. Best practice may be to give the contractor a heads up as well, but it can vary depending on the situation. A lot of times these minor changes are made to respond to RFI’s the contractor sends or other questions they have. So, there’s a good chance they might already know about the issue and are waiting for you to provide direction!
When you issue minor changes in the work or ASI’s they should be sent to both the owner and contractor. Most firms have their own particular standards and processes about this as well.
Hope this helps!
-Darion
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Hi Darion ok I get it’s good to know that’s the typical sequence, site visit then OAC meeting where the field report is discussed. I see so even minor changes ideally should be run through the owner and discussed with the gc. This was very helpful thanks.
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