Proper Documentation, Engineering Is Lacking

I agree absolutely there needs to be better documentation. For us as a design and programming firm however it’s more important to get the job working, under budget and on time in the first place.  If the integrator does not have a complete design with all the drawings described, we will do them for FREE for the integrator because the job will be done faster and it saves everyone, including me and the integrator, tons of money.  On going support and troubleshooting is important, but designing ahead saves you money!

Micah Thurlow
PanTech Design Ltd

The problem is getting the clients to pay for the “real” engineering.
I understand that the initial engineering must be performed to the highest level, prior to even completing the bid, even for free…agreed 100%!
but remember “Change managmenet” & “Scope creep”, and some other terms I’ve heard in the industry, are making the engineering hours add up during the projects’ life cycle…

if the client dosen’t understand the need for engineering in the beginning of the project, most likely, they won’t ever agree to pay for it in the future. A lot of them also don’t understand/care about “how” you execute the project, just get it done right, fast, and most important in our days, cheap!
You my friend, will have to keep on paying for all the PM/Engineering hours as things keep on changing with the project…may not be the case on small projects, but happens almost on every large custom home project.

So, in this economy, sometimes you see companies that will skeep, the “real” engineering” phase and just settle with a detailed “scope of work” and a proposal with the system design, without any real(CAD/Visio) drawings.

In the commercial industry, goverment and others, the need for engineering is not just a “maybe”, it’s a fact. No way around it. The projects will not start until this phase is 100% complete. But in the residential it’s a little different.

Anyway, it’s just my opinion…

Peace!

@Dave,

You are 100% correct, most residential integrators are cutting corners on documentation, or sometimes forgetting to make the turn altogether.

@Iggy
I know your dilemma.  You are bidding against companies that do not document their jobs, and therefore thay are much cheaper.  So in turn, you can’t get a potential client to pony up for your engineered system.

Here’s the solution.  Charge for design drawings as well as a custom manual with as-builts in EVERY job.  If the client will not come to the table, I argue they are not a good client for our level of service anyway.

Scope Creep happens, to be sure, but not in isolation.  In fact, 99.9% of all scope creep can be eliminated with a solid scope of work and drawings up front.  If you charge for and do the real engineering you will retain margin that you are currently losing because you have to constantly appease a customer who says “I thought that was included.”

Then any changes that do happen are legitimate change orders.  They will require you to create an additional quote.  If you charge for the manuals and as-builts as a standard with every job, no additional documentation costs have to be added.

If you have very few changes, then your as builts will be very close to your pre-engineered drawings, and easy to produce.  If not, the cost of producing them has already been collected.

If our industry did as they should, every job would have a scope and drawings up front, and manuals and as builts at the back end.  We then educate our potential clients.

Mark C

Wow~! What a fun and relevant subject. Thanks Dave.

I find it fascinating that any design or programming firm would be giving away services for free. Doesn’t sound like s strong business model…or perhaps they are not giving away anything for free and are rather covering the cost by charging higher programming fees.

Step 1 of any new project, large or small, is to complete a thorough discovery process where ideally you have a defined scope and budget.

Step 2 The designers role is to then role this information into a polished proposal and perhaps presentation drawings to help communicate that design to the client and get the project the sold.

Step 3 Once the client has agreed on the design, that system now has to be installed. Whether it only takes three weeks or it takes three years. There are forms of documentation that will help propel the project forward. Such as: pre-wire drawings, technical power drawings, rack elevations, schematics and CAD elevations for aiding communication.

Most programming firms I have seen, produce schematics that represent their port assignments, so they can complete their programming. This is very useful, but not nearly a completely documented system. How are changes handled over time….oh that’s right…the dealer is given a change order…but I imagine that engineering was also free.

To have these services performed, in house or through outsourcing, there is a cost that should be born by the client. Dealers that are offering these services are running more efficient projects and better businesses.

When was the last time you heard the…Architect, interior designer, lighting designer, etc…offering FREE Design???

To learn more about our firm, please visit our website or check out our services overview video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX_HMi_KPB8

Ron Callis
Firefly Design Group
http://www.firefly-designgroup.com

As someone who has spoken with Ron Callis at Firfely a time or two, I wanted to add a quick testimonial.

Ron’s portfolio is extensive, and whether you need help on creating engineering drawings and polished proposals, or need a high quality business marketing piece created, he would be an outstanding resource.

In my case, we decided to hire a family member to do our brochure work.  Ron had given us a VERY competitive price, and really took the time to learn our business and determine the type of piece we were after for our marketing efforts.  At the end of the day, we opted to save a few dollars and help out a family member who could also use the extra income.

That couple hundred dollars I saved cost me over 8 months time, waiting on deliverables, because we failed to see the opportunity cost of being without marketing that long.

If we had hired Ron, which I will do next time hands down, we would have 6 months of time under our belt delivering an awesome piece of media to our architect and designer clients, and probably have more work in the pipeline, giving us a huge ROI on that extra couple bucks.

Best,

Mark C

Great and relevant article! We are documentation heavy and I can tell you it saved us (and our integrators) many times. Sometimes simple things like Visio drawings of physical equipment layout can put things in perspective for all parties involved in system design and deployment. Does CEDIA have any documentation classes?

@Hagai

I don’t know about CEDIA courses, but if you want a great example of documentation on a job, you can look to infoComm for sure.  One book I have on my shelf is “Audiovisual Systems Project Documentation Sample” that uses documants from an actual classroom in VA.  Find it at http://store.infocomm.org/Products.aspx?type=Books

Best in your efforts to do things “right”.

God Bless,

Mark C

@Hagai

Yes, CEDIA does have a documentation course. I co-wrote the new course for the Project Management University.
Course Title: Project Management Documentation
Course #: ESMP033
Course will be taught at CEDIA: Thursday 9am-12pm.

@Mark C
Thank you sir. I completely understand helping out family or family friends. Thank you for the kind words.

This has been a problem everyone knows about and never addresses.  Design makes a project go smoother, faster and more profitably.  The design is what puts all the trades on the same page and eliminates having to do the same job two and three times.
You can’t buy a $200 dishwasher without a schematic so why are so many building systems for 50k or more with only a spreadsheet or proposal?
Outsourcing the design makes the most sense for smaller companies looking to have great design but don’t want to carry the overhead of staff, software and database management internally.
CIs would make more money in less time at a higher margin and stop giving away labor to “fix” problems.
Lack of a plan = lack of profit.
It’s not that it doesn’t get done, it just takes longer with less money made for the CI.
It all starts with the sale, offering systems that have already been fully designed then customizing for each client is the future of our industry.

All of your points are well taken and right on the money. The frustration of not having proper design and engineering documentation even forces some do it for free! And what makes it more difficult is the lack of standards to help guide the process. The task of creating clear and detailed documentation is no easy walk. Fortunately, CEDIA and CEA recognize this problem and have created a working group to develop technical documentation standards. And at CEDIA Expo this year they are offering a full-day workshop: Design and Engineering Documentation Using Microsoft Visio (ESD051)  on Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010.

Thank you for the great comments. Feel free to reach me at:
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

@ Dave

Thank you for sharing.

Design and Engineering Documentation Using Microsoft Visio (ESD051)  on Wednesday Sept. 22, 2010

Very cool. This should be an excellent course.

Thank you Mark Coxon and Ron Callis. Adding design and engineering classes to CEDIA is great. 

There is a correlation between integrators with heavy design and documentation skills and their ability to successfully execute and implement projects around the country (Vs. remaining in their local markets).

General Contractors are the best advocates of proper design and heavy documentation. Maybe CEDIA should reach out to GC’s to create a working relationship and elevate documentation standards - turn it into a project requirement, a standard. This may already be happening - I am just not involved with CEDIA at this level.