Some of the Perils and Benefits When Design Responsibility Is Moved Down the Process toward Contractors and Manufacturers

Cost has often become a more important component in the award of engineering design contracts. With this trend, there has also been a trend to try to shift some of design and liability from the design engineer to the contractor and subcontractors. This often includes the manufacturers of pipe, valves, and other manufactured products, since very few contractors have this expertise in house. This paper will present some view points on what value and cost of different items that are shifted down the process are perceived to accomplish and what many times are truly accomplished. This paper will also touch on some of the possible short comings of this practice, such as communication problems, quality, and misunderstanding of the desired final design intent. This paper will also discuss the practice of having manufacturers stamp design calculations. Some items may have beneficial value but sometimes this could cause confusion, delays, and a design not meeting the original goals. The use of electronic aids like spread sheets and standard design drawings and specifications can also create the possibility of misapplying a generic design to a specific design requirement. This becomes even more important in the design of large diameter pipelines where structural loads become an issue. The conclusion of the paper will discuss how these practices may be trending toward less training of young engineers and what our legacy is to future engineers.