Architecture

Practice Guidelines

Law, rules and regulations, not Guidelines, specify the requirements for practice and violating them constitutes professional misconduct. Not adhering to this Guideline may be interpreted as professional misconduct only if the conduct also violates pertinent law, rules and regulations.

B. Practice

6. Shop Drawings, Submittals and Delegation

1. The design professional responsible for construction administration must review all shop drawings and submittals for their compliance with the contract documents. The design professional will generally use a stamp containing a signature block which he or she will sign, or at a minimum initial. The stamp and a signed transmittal noting approval is adequate evidence that the submission "....conforms to the overall project design and can be integrated into such design....", all as required by the Regents.
   
   
2. Some submissions will also require the signature and certification of the licensed New York design professional who prepared that submission. Examples of such submissions include, but are not limited to:

   Geotechnical Site/Street Shelters Pre-fabricated Bridges Pre-assembled Stone Panels or Wall Systems Structural Metal Framing and/or Systems Stair Constructions Pre-fabricated Structural Wood, including Joists and Trusses Glued Laminated Timber Roof and Wall Panels Skylights Curtain Wall Systems Window Washing and Building Facade Maintenance Equipment Cable-Supported and Fabric Structures

   Athletic Rooms Controlled Environments Radiation Protection Radio Frequency-Shielded Enclosure Metal Building Systems Glazed Structures Bleachers and Grandstands Dome Structures Mezzanine Systems Pre-fabricated Structures (for Human Habitation) Elevators, Escalators, and Moving Walkways Turntables Funiculars Fire Protection Sprinkler Systems

3. When preparing contract documents, the design professional require the component fabricator to have their submissions certified and signed by a New York State licensed professional.
   
   
4. During the construction administration phase of a project, many submittals, samples, catalogue cuts, etc. will not require the fabricator's certification. These will generally be for "off the shelf" items that represent standardized products or systems. In these instances, the design professional should be able to rely on the manufacturer's certification that the submittal meets the design criteria, standardized tests, and/or association standards. The design professional must still "review and approve" these submittals, but the signature and certification by the manufacturer's designer is not required. The manufacturer confirms to the contractor and the design professional the quantity and the quality of the product and that the contractor has the erection or installation drawings.
   
   
5. Some submittals, often in the form of shop or erection drawings indicating the interface of standard systems, are issued to the design professional for confirmation of design intent. For instance, the design professional puts together a performance specification for a large window wall; the specifications describes loads, profiles, component materials, and finishes, etc., but does not list standard manufacturer's systems in order to keep competition open. In essence, the design professional has left the detail up to the successful low bidder. In this instance, the successful bidder must use a New York licensee to prepare, sign and certify the shop drawings. Following this, the design professional must "review and approve" those drawings and, in doing so, accept responsibility that the design conforms to the performance specifications, the overall project design and that it can be integrated into the building system. See also Guideline B-7 - Design Delegation.
   
   
6. Definitions:
   
   Shop Drawings: Drawings prepared by other than the project's design professional which show all or some of the following:
   
   
   • the detailed construction of a design component or system to be incorporated into the construction
   • the component or system's interface with another system or systems
   • the component or system's methods or means of erection
   • the material, joinery, color, pattern, or other changes within the component or system; such that the design professional's design intent is confirmed
   
   Submittals: Actual material samples, brochures, cut sheets, mockups -- whether full scale or miniaturized -- or such other materials or samples required by the design professionals to confirm the quality of the design intent.