Contractor Proposed Substitutes

If a contractor proposes a substitute item the engineer generally must evaluate it as a part of basic services. If acceptance of the substitute is in the best interest of the project, it may necessitate certain changes in the drawings and specifications to adapt them to the substitute. However, the time spent fitting the substitute into the overall design should be treated as an additional service and paid for as such. Should a contractor abuse the privilege of submitting substitutes the engineer should be allowed to recover from the owner for the additional time spent on this matter. Language to this effect should be considered in your contracts.

An Interest Frequently Overlooked

Of all the parties involved in the design and construction of a project, the most important one is the general public. They will be using the project long after it is completed and probably long after the original owner ceases to own or use it. While contracts can limit professional responsibilities of engineers to owners and contractors, it cannot limit the duties to the general public. A licensed professional engineer is held to a higher standard of care than a layman and law does not look favorably on efforts to avoid responsibility properly to be assumed by the professional.