Everyone Saw the Issue Nobody Owned It
How undefined responsibility during the subcontractor handoff allowed a critical structural clash to be ignored until it became an expensive rework issue.
The Handoff Failure
During the transition between the structural steel erection and the subsequent exterior framing phase, a major misalignment became apparent. The framing crew noticed that the steel attachment plates were offset by nearly three inches from the dimensions shown on their shop drawings. Rather than halting work or raising a formal issue, they assumed the steel subcontractor had already cleared the deviation with the engineer.
Similarly, the quality control inspector logged the variance in a personal notebook but did not assign it to a specific party, believing the mechanical coordinator would catch it during the upcoming ductwork layout. Because there was no clear protocol for assigning ownership to issues spotted outside a trade’s direct scope of work, the clash remained unaddressed.
The framing proceeded around the misplaced plates, sealing the structural error behind drywall and creating a compound issue that eventually blocked the installation of the main HVAC risers, resulting in major delays.
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