Design vs. engineering question

[Rich Bach]

Michael:

I appreciate your line of thinking, and questioning. As a design/ builder, I sympathize.

When you ask a question, some never miss the opportunity to pounce with overwrought rhetoric and opinion. Perhaps valuable, perhaps not so much. I chuckle when people ascribe motives to others in haste, with decided lack of knowledge of the particulars involved. What else do they make similar errors on ?

I'm writing to offer an additional perspective. Profitability.

As a builder 'just getting into design work', I'll recommend that you monitor your first few projects where you perform the design/ drafting/ drawing with Chief. Since you probably wear many 'hats' as conductor of the build process, what will be the 'sweet spot' for you working with Chief through that process ? That will be the intersection of time best spent, satisfaction/ reward, and profitability. Chief is such a powerful design and sales tool. Drafting of numerous CAD details, which an engineer may already have, may not be profitable.

Additionally, experience has shown me that the better engineers - the ones you want to work with - are creative. Creative in the sense that they realize there may be easier or simpler ways to accomplish things with materials and labor, and that you as the builder/ conductor of the process have a key role to perform in controlling those 'means and methods'. Developing trust and rapport with a creative engineer is invaluable; it will increase your satisfaction, and enhance profitability.

With custom design/ build, quite obviously each project will be different. That rapport with a good engineer will serve you well. Usually in a preliminary review, you both can chart a course for the project that increases efficiency and makes for a better workflow.

I also appreciated your question because within it, I recognized an issue that often comes up on a custom project. Generally stated, how to deploy resources to create the best design, the strongest and most durable building(s), within a budget the owner can work with. The client's trust is placed in you. They approached you as a builder of trust, not an architect or engineer. You 'drive the bus'. You are the 'conductor' of the orchestra. Bringing the project home to a succesful conclusion is on your shoulders, with all that entails. Find, and collaborate with, those design and engineering professionals that you can work with effectively, in the ways that work to the strengths of each party involved. You build a trusted 'business team' that 'goes' with you from project to project.

Rich