Uncertain Specifications

As I was looking at some plans today so I could give a price quote, I noticed something I have never seen before. This little piece of information was clearly marked and labeled in the Architectural detail pages of said plans. It stated as follows "Industrial Grade Vapor Barrier." I know you see that and say "What?" Exactly how I reacted. It is no wonder that contractors have to guess at what the Architect wants. On the structural pages it simply said 6mil poly. Thank goodness, saved by those trusty engineers who then had fiber reinforced concrete in their detail pages of the structural drawings. Of course, next to the detail of the fiber reinforced concrete was the picture of the turned down slab that also had clearly written 6x6 10/10. Hard to believe I know, but the engineer did it. It is also no wonder that a contractor has to guess what the engineer wants. I notice this many times when I look at plans. I only look at a small portion of the job. I would hate to think how many times contractors have to go through the whole set, finding all these little errors.


There can be funny stories in many situations like this. I happen to know at least one engineer. He had a job that he had to reject drawings on. Not just an "as noted" approval but a complete rejection of the shop drawings. Apparently the detailer had ignored the engineer's clear and concise notes. When the detailer called and asked why the drawings were rejected, the engineer explained the notes. The detailer agreed that he saw the notes but that the notes had less than he put in the detail drawing. Of course the engineer knew this and explained that is the way it was engineered.


I wonder what other little funny stories I can hear or see in specifications. Feel free to let me know of some of your horror stories or humorous things that have happened. I have found that most things that seem bad when they are going on, are really funny in hindsight.