New consultant building upon old consultant's work
New consultant building upon old consultant's work
(OP)
Hello everyone,
I work on the owner’s side. A couple years ago, we had a consultant prepare a design to rehabilitate the façade of a large 40 year old vent shaft building. The work was to consist of localized repairs and recaulking. When, due to budgetary concerns the work was pushed out two years, I had the consultant complete the design and seal the drawings, which I placed on the shelf until now. On a recent walk-through, I discovered that conditions at the building have worsened considerably, and much of the building envelope now needs complete replacement, or at least this option needs to be studied. The original consultant is a small company with no special expertise in the state-of-the-art of building facades; therefore, I would like to hire a different consultant at this point. Still, much of the work done by the original consultant could be used and built upon, i.e. the general plans and views of the building, and the repair details (all basically “replace-in-kind”) that are still valid.
Here’s my question: Can I take the original consultant’s drawings, remove the seals, and give them to a new consultant to use as a starting point? I would require the new consultant verify the previous work and make any changes he or she felt necessary. The result would be a new set of drawings, all sealed by the new consultant. Is this kosher?
I work on the owner’s side. A couple years ago, we had a consultant prepare a design to rehabilitate the façade of a large 40 year old vent shaft building. The work was to consist of localized repairs and recaulking. When, due to budgetary concerns the work was pushed out two years, I had the consultant complete the design and seal the drawings, which I placed on the shelf until now. On a recent walk-through, I discovered that conditions at the building have worsened considerably, and much of the building envelope now needs complete replacement, or at least this option needs to be studied. The original consultant is a small company with no special expertise in the state-of-the-art of building facades; therefore, I would like to hire a different consultant at this point. Still, much of the work done by the original consultant could be used and built upon, i.e. the general plans and views of the building, and the repair details (all basically “replace-in-kind”) that are still valid.
Here’s my question: Can I take the original consultant’s drawings, remove the seals, and give them to a new consultant to use as a starting point? I would require the new consultant verify the previous work and make any changes he or she felt necessary. The result would be a new set of drawings, all sealed by the new consultant. Is this kosher?





RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
The stamped paper copies are still valid for the conditions investigated at the time, but changing the CAD files would render the stamped paper copies obsolete.
David
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
I owuld never remove the seals from someone else's drawings and present the work as my own.
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
In my industry, this happens all the time. We get drawings and engineering calcs from other consultants as information/input into our scope of work.
"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
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RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
If the new consultant is any good, he will not trust the original consultant anyway, and will insist on reconfirming everything the original consultant did. If you don't want to pay again for work already done, expect a big fat caveat about "conditions as documented by the owner, not verifed by the engineer."
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
The drawings (etc) should be enough to use as a basis for further work.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
The situation with the building is becoming critical with hazardous materials, dissimilar metals and historical preservation thrown into the mix. I really need help from an expert. We own the drawings and have the CAD files, but I am seeing the need to be up front and respectful with the original consultant.
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
I've always worked in exempt industry so don't have direct experience of the stamp thing but given the magnitude of changes you expect I'd think the stamps should be taken off and the new persons stamp put on when they're finished incorporating the changes.
If out of good will (or whatever you call it) you let the original consultant know you've hired a specialist to take a second look that's more about business relationships than ethics as such.
Likewise if there was some kind of information the original consultant gathered that isnt' in the drawing pack and you think some kind of 'handover' would be beneficial this is a program issue, not in my opinion an ethical one.
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work
If this is the case, what's wrong with sitting down with them and explaining? Heck, they might simply say the scope is beyond them and provide you with better guidance etc.
To be honest, I think you are making something out of nothing here. Just talk to all parties.
RE: New consultant building upon old consultant's work