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Robert Aho is the President and Principal
Architect of RA Architect Studios, LLC, a
Duluth
architecture firm established in 2005, currently
employing three. Robert has over ten years of experience in the field of
architecture, as well as many more years of experience in other disciplines
within the construction industry. He is licensed to practice Architecture
in MN, WI, and MI, and is nationally certified through the National
Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and has met the
requirements for recommendation to all Registration Authorities in the
US
and
Canada
. Robert is also President of
the Construction Specifications Institute, Twin Ports Chapter. Through
CSI
, he has earned the distinction of
Contract Document Technologist, a rigorous exam that tests knowledge of the
General Conditions of the Contracts in common use. He has been an officer
and director for the Northern MN Chapter of the American Institute of Architects
for the past three years. The
AIA
requires a higher standard than is
required by the State of
MN
with continuing education for
licensed architects, and is also dedicated to providing resources for its
members in service to society.
Unwise Plan
By
Robert
Aho, AIA
The
general public might think an architect is only a person who draws and designs
buildings.
But
a licensed professional architect is really an advocate for the client with a
building project.
Traditionally,
an architect serves as the client’s agent on all matters surrounding
construction. He
or
she resolves disputes that may occur, designs to a budget, analyzes costs that a
contractor may
propose
and implements many other administrative and legal functions connected with
construction.
In
the case of the new plans for ISD 709, the Duluth Public Schools, Johnson
Controls is the
contractor
and project manager. Instead of having state licensed architects represent the
school
district,
Johnson Controls is in charge of hiring the architects and engineers to
represent—who?—
Johnson
Controls. This is highly unusual for any public entity to allow this.
This
multinational corporation is not in the business of guiding and protecting
owners from
the
pitfalls related to construction, as is a licensed architect. The people of
Duluth
need to know
how
serious this is. The architect is licensed by the state to represent owners of
building projects,
not
a contractor, especially one who is a big multinational corporation.
I
believe there is a huge conflict of interest in this arrangement, which creates
a disservice to
the
school district and our city. There is also little value in having the
architects represent the
contractor.
It is similar to asking the fox to guard the chicken coop. Or asking your
butcher to
recommend
a vegetarian diet. It’s just not smart.
The
Red Plan is, perhaps, the most expensive fix to the situation with the least
amount of
accountability
and return we could have imagined. This scenario will be disastrous for the
community
and the
Duluth
Public
School District
.
It is an unwise plan.
We
have all these really great architecture firms in
Duluth
,
and rather than selecting licensed
architects
to represent the district, they are going to a big multinational corporation.
How is this
big
multinational qualified to represent the school district in this regard, or any
regard for that
matter?
And then there is this incredible price tag.
Like
so many Duluthians, I have a job, kids, and very little extra time in my life.
Well, I am
Duluth
Public
School District
.
I must have misunderstood, because no school
district,
or public entity for that matter, requires the Architect to represent the
Contractor—at least
none
that I, or any of my colleagues that I have spoken to, have ever heard about.
So,
I then asked for more information about this RFQ.
What
I discovered led me to write a very strong letter to the Duluth Public School
Board,
where
I indicated the following major points:
-
Johnson
Controls is asking that the Architects turn over full ownership of their
documents
to them, the Contractor, JCI. This is a big no-no for Architects because it
potentially
compromises their service and raises safety concerns.
-
The
Architects are required to hold JCI legally harmless.
-
The
Architects are required to defend JCI.
-
JCI
dictates what can and cannot be discussed about the project, even to the
school
board, or to anyone.
-
The
Duluth
Public
School District
hired JCI, the Contractor, to tell them what
they
think should be built, and then the Contractor is hiring the Architects to
represent
them
and to justify this wish list to the school district.
-
Because
the Architect works for the Contractor and not the school district, the
Contractor
would be allowed to charge whatever he wants and provide less than was
agreed
upon -- essentially being given the green light to greatly increase the
scope and
cost
of the project. There is really no upper limit to what could be charged, and
no one to
report
abuse. We would be at a legal disadvantage.
I
think what we need to do as a community is to realistically and smartly take an
assessment
of
the situation. Then we all need to take just a few precious moments, each of us,
to get
involved
and to democratically voice our opinions. Let’s act like true Americans.
What
would be better and far less expensive would be for the school district to hire
an
architect
or two in-house. From there they could create a staff that could manage the
situation
and
select local firms who really care about this community, and who could represent
the school
district
directly. We need to build consensus and to stop allowing this situation to tear
the
community
apart.
Yes,
something needs to be done, there is no doubt about that; but not in the way it
is
currently
progressing. We need to find a better way that will not bankrupt the district
and create
unreasonable
tax burdens. We need to think about finding a cost-effective way to solve some
very
important issues for our community, our schools and for our children.
***
Published with permission of the Hillsider. Article found on page 2 of
the April 2008 "Hillsider" The hillsider hosts
this blog
Robert Aho's website address is: http://www.raarchitect.com/contact.html
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