PSA: Stop blaming the builder when the drafts are off by a quarter inch

I was checking a set of plans for a warehouse job over in Kent last month. The builder was screaming that the window rough openings were wrong by 0.25 inches. Everyone on the forum jumped on the drafter like it was his fault. But I grabbed the tape and checked the field measurements myself, the concrete was poured crooked. The drafter was dead on. Has anyone else caught a builder blaming bad site work on the drawings instead of owning up to their own mess?

2 comments

2 Comments

cameron_owens492d ago

You ever notice how quick people are to blame the person with the cleanest work? I've seen this in all kinds of jobs, not just building. The guy who made the drawing or the plan gets yelled at first, but usually the sloppy foundation work or the crooked wall is the real problem. It's like how people blame the chef when their own oven is broken. Same pattern everywhere, a lot of folks just don't want to look in the mirror first.

wren_carr2d ago

Hmm, I kinda see it the other way though. In my experience, if the builder is catching it before the windows go in, that means he's actually paying attention and trying to prevent a bigger problem down the line. A quarter inch can turn into a nightmare with weatherproofing and trim, so I'd rather have a builder double check everything than just assume the install will work out.