A lot of talk goes on about how contractors can, and will, front end load the progress payment requests. This allows them to get more money than has been earned for the value of the work installed. Front end loading also occurs with architects and engineers. It does not seem to be discussed very much. Perhaps it is not polite to discuss how contractors, architects, and engineers can be alike. I don’t know.
The architects and engineers are typically paid by milestone events in their contracts. Major events, as can be found in building construction, are the various completion milestones. These include, but are not limited to of Programming, Schematic Design, Design Development, intermediate issues of Construction Documents and 100% Construction Documents being issued for bids. I prefer to look at these as the Schematic Design Milestone being 5% design completion; the Design Develop Milestone as being anywhere from 35% to 60% design completion; and the 100% Construction Documents Milestone as just being that, 100% completion of the design documents.
At each milestone of design, there are certain deliverables (work product if you will) due from the architects, engineers and consultants. In my experience, deliverables tend to be identified on a contract by contract basis. It can be hard to measure these milestones. I do not believe (might be wrong) that organizations such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) or National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), to name two organizations, have guidelines on what constitutes deliverables.
Because the deliverables are so vague, this leaves an area where the firms can point to a few documents and say I have completed Programming, Schematic Design, etc., the firm is owed $xx amount for this milestone, at this time. Please pay!
But an estimator knows how to determine (judge) the completion amount at each of these milestones. This is from years of dealing with all level of completion, multitudes of architects and a wealth of other factors.
Oh By The Way… Most estimators can tell that that milestone has been met or not. While this may be a “gut feel” based upon experience, it can be a very reliable indicator of how much is actually done on the design. By asking the estimator in the pre-construction period to provide an opinion as to the amount of design completed, the owners can watch out for and control front end loading by the architects and engineers.
