Lesson 3 - More About 'Reasons for Issue'
When a company submits documents, they usually specify a Reason for Issue.
This is very often used as the basis for the subsequent distribution of the
document(s) submitted. Some typical reasons for an originator submitting
documents are:
-
Preliminary - These are often documents in the very early stages of work. A
document may be submitted as preliminary where it is intended to give guidance
to third parties as to the overall size, shape or scale of a segment of the
project being undertaken - such as the general layout of a floor plan or road -
but it should not be used for further detailed design by third parties or for
the commencement of construction work. It is not uncommon for documents to be
submitted as preliminary in two or three stages (P1, P2, P3 etc.) and are
normally issued to third parties 'For Information' or 'For Comment'.
-
Information - Documents submitted for information are usually intended for
guidance, they may be preliminary in nature or they may not be comprehensive
(i.e. not finalised). Documents received 'For Information' are typically passed
on to third parties 'For Information' or sometimes 'For Review'. Trade
contractors would rarely be expected to start construction on the basis
of 'For Information' documents.
-
Tender - Documents submitted 'For Tender' are usually intended for issue to
potential bidders to price the work. Tender documents can form the basis of
contracts so need to be as finalised as possible at the time of issue - or
there may well be cost implications.
-
Comment, Review and Approval - Documents submitted 'For Approval' (or any
similar reason) are generally ones of a contentious nature. A works contractor
with some design responsibility might have to submit all documents 'For
Approval' to allow the architects and other members of the design team to 'vet'
them. Typically when documents are sent in 'For Approval' the design team only
has a limited amount of time (contractually, and the amount of time may vary
from project to project or from contractor to contractor on the same project) to
review the documents and return any comments to the originator. The critical
thing about approval documents is that the document controller is very often
expected to 'chase' the design team to some extent and try to ensure that they
are reviewed in good time. Delays in the approval of documents can cause delays
to construction and, very often, be the subject of claims.
-
Construction - Documents issued 'For Construction' by the design team are
normally finalised and good enough to be sent on to trade contractors for the
same reason. Documents submitted by works contractors for the same reason need
to be checked quite carefully - as they ought normally to be 'reved-up'
versions of previously approved documents. It is sometimes the case that works
contractors will accidently submit documents as 'For Construction' before the
design team has had a chance to vet them, document controllers are often
expected to identify when this has happened and deal with the documents
accordingly (which might mean returning them to the originator or passing them
on to the design team for approval, either way the document controller has a reasonable
obligation to let the originator know what action has been taken).
-
As-Built or As-Fitted - When work has been completed, the design team and/or
the works contractor responsible normally submits documents for the reason
'As-Built'. Life being what it is, however, it may be necessary for someone to
check these documents to some extent - as it is common for documents to be
stamped 'As-Built' when last minute modifications had to be done on site,
sometimes called 'site mods', during the construction process which have not
been incorporated in the documentation. There are often cost implications to
the person submitting documents 'As-Built', both in terms of the cost of
employing someone to 'rev-up' the documents ('As-Built' documents should take
the next revision number and not simply be stamped 'As-Built') and receiving
final account payment. 'As-Built' documents are often not issued, they may
simply become part of an operations and maintenance manual, or issued on to
what are called 'follow-on trades' for construction purposes.
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