Think Twice Before Making Your Own Changes
My grandfather was a carpenter and he taught my father
and his brother the art of home construction. I was talking to my uncle
one day when he said something that I would never forget. He said,” We
are just assembling the homes, it's not our job to reengineer or design
them.”
Anyone who works in the construction business, building new homes or
even remodeling homes that they didn't design personally, should
remember this statement for the rest of their lives. If you're a
plumber, electrician, carpenter or even a construction laborer and you
feel like you can do a better job than the architect or engineer, I
suggest that you go get the education that is required and become one of
these professionals.
Here's where the problem starts, I've seen carpenters who reengineer
projects and completely redesign a floor or roof system different than
the one designed by the engineer and architect, only to find out later
that it wouldn't pass the building inspection.
This is where the problem starts to become a nightmare. Whenever one of
the lead or master carpenters believes that they can do a better job or
change a specified building material, you've got problems with the
building department. Think twice before making any changes, with
anything that you're building.
Any changes that you make during the construction process that aren't
approved by the building department, architect, engineer, homeowner or
other contractors that might be involved with the project, could create
problems for you in the future.
Think twice before changing anything that's on the plans. I've seen more
people create bigger problems doing this than you could ever imagine.