Architecture columns : the newsletter of the NC Board of Architecture [2005 : spring]

architecture columns Spring 2005 Newsletter NC BOARD OF ARCHITECTURE President’s Message During the April 2005 meeting of the Board of Architecture, representatives from the State Construction Office were in attendance. The initial reason for their attendance was to discuss the use of professional seals. However, as the dialogue progressed, the conversation expanded to discuss the role of architects as design team leaders. With projects becoming more complex, the State Construction Office has witnessed an increase in the architects’ use of specialized but unlicensed consultants on public projects. Some consultants produce documents that are incorporated into the construction documents, but unless their work has been produced under the architect’s “direct supervision” the architect may not be required to seal the consultants’ sheets. Regardless, when one considers the work of food service, theater, and lighting consultants, there may be little doubt that the public’s health, safety and welfare are impacted, yet no one is sealing these documents. Even though the statutes and rules governing the practice of architecture appear to prohibit architects affixing their seals to such consultants’ documents, the architect has the responsibility for coordinating its consultant’s work into the project for compliance with building codes. The concern of State Construction is that they are seeing an increase in documents being submitted for their review where design professionals may be failing to coordinate their consultants’ work. The demands of schedules, budgets, owners’ expectations and project complexity, have increased the pressures of practice, but the role of the architect as the design team leader still requires the protection of the public’s health, safety and welfare. As architects we must develop better methods for coordinating the design team, to make for a better built environment for the public. However, requir ing licensees to accept more project responsibility might be only half of the answer to this problem. The statutes and rules governing public construction are becoming cluttered with exceptions, exemptions and limitations that can encroach upon the “primary obligation and responsibility” of the architect to conduct “all aspects of his or her practice in such a manner as to ‘safeguard life, health and property’”. Ktvh* Q. h'ldkXidMi Inside Columns “We Are All Mentors” By Dan Knight Enforcement Report Up-Coming Board Meeting All Board meetings are open to the public. Contact Julie Piatek ( juliap@ncbarch.org) for further information. July 13, 2005 Raleigh — Annual Meeting