20/09/2017
Excerpts from THE ARCHITECT AND THE CIVIL ENGINEER ON BUILDING A BUILDING-WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW By Arch. Celso C. Nieves, FUAP,UAP Emeritus, PIA, AAIF
The client or owner hires the service of the Architect, not the Civil Engineer(CE). He is more interested in the design on how he should occupy the spaces for safety, convenience, health, satisfaction, and their functional uses. He is not interested in the structural design of the building. The fee of the architect, called Architectural Fee, includes the fee of all engineers; that is civil, electrical, sanitary, etc. As soon as the Architectural Plan is finished and approved by the client, the architect, not the CE, lays out the Structural Plan. He places where the beams are to run, the locations of the columns, their dimensions, and their sizes. The architect creates the forms in the plan. He hires the civil engineer to design the structure according to the architectural layout. The CE should not change anything of what is shown on this layout. This is what is called conceptualization. He hires the CE to do his expertise. The CE has all the authority to do his work. No one, even the architect should meddle with his structural engenuity. Afterwards, the architect, not the client, pays the engineer. If the architect doesn't like the CE, the architect can change him. But the CE cannot change the architect. The CE now submits to the architect all the original document of his work. He puts the letterhead of the architect to his plans. Both will sign the plans. If after construction, the structural fails, the client sues the architect, not the civil engineer. It is the architect who sues the engineer. So the CE cannot design the structure without the architectural. He is dependent to the architect.
The other engineers, electrical, sanitary, mechanical, and the others should also follow the same procedure.
During construction, the architect oversees the progress of the work. He sees that the works of the engineers are coordinated and that all engineers follow what is shown in the plan and specification. He also checks the quality and workmanship of the one in charge of construction. He is either the project or construction manager.
It is clear therefore that the architect is the author and the master builder of the project called building. He creates and controls the progress from his mind as an idea to the finished product as a building. All engineers should follow the architectural plans and other documents.