On the flight of fee

Several months ago, an article was published by a mechanical engineering firm pronouncing BIM to be a red herring. There were a host of issues with the author's arguments, from logical fallacies to a lack of cohesion, enough so that they're not really worth getting into.

However, the article did highlight (indirectly) an important issue facing many engineering firms, the issue of fee shrinkage.

As the author correctly noted, back in the 70's and 80's engineers started shifting constructability issues to field (contractor) responsibility to avoid liability. Well, when you remove liability, or shift it elsewhere, fee goes with it, which I suspect is what is really at the heart of the matter here. Fees are falling as liability has been exculpated and many firms find themselves not knowing what to do about it. 

Some firms will look at falling profits and decide they should cut their liability further, as was done in the early 80's. I wish them luck as I don't know how much more liability they can really cut. Instead, liability must be wrested back from the contractors. Designers should demand greater responsibility for their designs and the attendant fees for that responsibility (and demonstrate they can follow through on it). The problem there is that designers commonly lack the constructability insight that contractors have (which is why we get uncoordinated design models), so that knowledge must be captured in some way. A few methods would include merging with a construction firm to provide a one-stop shop. Hiring tradesmen and bringing their insight and experience into the office. Sending out the design interns to work in the field for a period of time. Think outside the box. Take the lead and take responsibility, owners certainly aren't going to pay the same fees (or larger ones) for designs which take even less responsibility.

This is ibviously a simplified look at this issue, there is no magic pill or silver bullet to halt the flight of fees. However, our industry is going through a sea change, as it did almost 30 years ago when CAD displaced hand drafting. Firms have a choice in this change. They can take up the banner and take the lead down the BIM path. They can follow the leaders letting others blaze the trail and move along in their wake, either willingly or fighting the change step-by-step. Finally they can opt to resist the change in whole and continue down their same path, just like those unfortunate firms who have faded into memory, clinging fervently to their vellum, t-squares and drafting pencils for their construction documents.

What path they each take will be up to them.