RANT - Interior Designers

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blue spark

blue spark

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Location
MN
One of the more enjoyable tasks in my job is designing the lighting for the bigger custom homes we do. Most of the time there's no electrical print and if there is it's mostly receps and appliance locations. I like walking through with the HO pre-rough in and spending time with them talking fixtures and lighting systems. It really seems to make things go alot smoother both in rough-in and trim phases. I took some lighting classes and in my earlier days did theatre/concert venue lighting so I feel I know a bit on how to light things up. Recently however one of our GC's adopted an "interior designer". She picks colors, materials, furnishings, and the like. Now she's decided that she's the lighting designer. OK, fine. On the last two projects:
1. Fixtures not showing up in time for the trim costing us more money for return trips.
2. High dollar fixtures that are plain crap. Hard to install and just plain junk. This has cost us time on the trim phase.
3. Fixture placement (as per "interior designer") not up to par with HO's wants. This is usually found out in the trim phase and costs us time as well as the GC. Pulling down T&G ceilings after the fact to move fixtures.
4. This is the doozy! On the last project she informed us that she had spoken with our supplier :confused: and that he could supply some of the fixtures on her list so she went ahead and ordered them. "You guys can take care of the bill and charge the HO.":mad: :mad: This was $11K worth of Murray Feis!!!!
I think it's time I spoke with the GC but I don't really know how to approach this. We did tell her that she had no business ordering fixtures on our account and to never do it again. If this is going to be her gig than she better float the cost.
Sorry about the long post.
 
My only thought is that if you had not yet picked up the fixtures that were placed on your account, then don't. Cancel the order, and inform the Interior Designer that the order will have to be placed again, and charged to somewhere other than your account.
 
charlie b said:
My only thought is that if you had not yet picked up the fixtures that were placed on your account, then don't. Cancel the order, and inform the Interior Designer that the order will have to be placed again, and charged to somewhere other than your account.
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I agree with Charlie. Also I would be PEEVED with the supply house letting some unknown person charging to your account.

Depending on how much you need this account with the GC, I would have a sit down with the so called lighting designer and let her know just how you feel...keeping the profanity out of the conversation.
 
If my wholesaler placed any order on my account without having my signed purchase order then I would sit back and let the wholesaler go talk to the homeowner for their money themselves. It is preferable to be in a good working relationship with material houses, but if they step out of bounds like this then they need to have a little correcting education applied. By the way, what the wholesaler did was probably not legal for him to do in your state, nor the lighting designer, unless you implied to either or both that you were willing to cover the costs of the order.
 
First it sounds like your contract needs a tune up, most standard contracts cover delays in customer supplied material, and has a cost applied, my belief is carefully include the scope of work, all fixtures in detail, so these issues can be avoided in the future.

On the designer ordering the fixtures, and charging to your account, that is just nuts, should anything go wrong and the owner refuses to pay, you have no legal way of recovering the funds, if your original contract did not exclude the fixtures, and you do not have a contract with the designer.
 
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All of the above is good advice.

I would start with the contractor and explain your side of the story, show him how you have saved him money in the past and can save him money future if your skills are not hampeed.

Next to the designer and tell her how wonderful is but politely explain how in this instance you are the expert.
 
what I have done in such instances is to wait until the homeowner and youreself and the designer are all in the same room and start asking technical questions to the designer as to why she picked certain lights?

What is the need here for 1700 lumens? Did you spec the par 38's here or par 20's? What degree of spot throw are we using here? Are the MR 16's going to have a central transformer or a coil in each box?

If she looks stunned, then the HO may be more willing to listen to you on some lighting choices.
 
I just had a small experance with a "lighting designer" house roughed in sheet rock up she walks through with contractors wife " oh we must not put surface mount lights here at the top of stairs we must have can lights" contractor calls me we need to remove boxes install cans ( he lets his wife make small changes to keep her out of his hair) I meet with wife, lighting designer, and contractor. They show me what they want. Me: Cant do it. Lighting des.: oh yes all you do is remove the boxes and install cans Me: cant do it Wife: yes you can you have made changes for us in the other houses.Lighting des.: I dont see what your problem is your suposed to be an electricain (bitchey tone) Me to contractor: ok I can install cans after you pay the HVAC co. to come move the 5 ton air handler that is sitting over where you want these cans because they will not fit.Contractor: Hell, no whats there is fine. do I owe you any thing for a wasted trip? Me: no, but (I had to do it) tell your lighting designer to bring her X-ray glasses to see through sheet rock next time. Contractor and I left to go look over plans for the next house.
 
I actually like to work with lighting designers. As long as they're involved from the very beginning planning stages, it's generally been smooth sailing for me. That takes one heck of a burden off of me. "Design" implies "opinion". I'd rather someone else take charge of the portion of the job in which there can be varying opinions, and I'll handle the stuff that's black and white. Designers are often a steady source of change orders as the job progresses, as they "sell" the change to the owner, and all I have to do is write it up and get it signed. Good money.
 
Thanks for the advice folks. All of it is good! In hindsight maybe I should have took a breath or two before I wrote it but.....;) I'll be meeting with the GC when he gets back from vacation and we spoke briefly on the subject. I think things will work out fine. Both the supplier and designer have been "spoken to" as well. They got the "message".
 
I agree with Marc, if a designer is in play at the begining it can go smoothly and I only worry about the tech stuff, if the designer changes the design frequently... well that why we have change orders and ticket rate.
BTW.... Tell your supplier to never accept an order on your accont without a recognized company rep ( they can keep a list of allowed people, foremen, service drivers) or institute a purchase order program.

Tom
 
Coming into this late.
I do not like or trust Interior dominators.
About a month ago I got my hand slapped by the interiors people here. Why did you do this and that...2 years after the electrical design and permit. My response, you weren't here and no one knew what the interior was going to look like: upscale, modern, vanilla, etc. So I resigned myself to the commercial spec lighting books and not architectural.
New project, Architect wants modern lighting and systems. Ok no problem. then the interior desecrator asks me what pendants and exterior lighting I selected. None. That's your area. she will select them.
The price of one of the pendants could do 10 office troffers!!!! and then she wants me to make a selection.

Interior {word removed, see moderator's note below} typically do not have the common sense for construction and should leave it for the real professional. Or at least listen to us. And stay the hell away from my account with my suppliers.

Thanks for letting me rant

{Moderator's Note: We'll let you rant, but we don't allow rude or otherwise inappropriate language. So I edited out a word in the paragraph above.}
 
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Joke

Joke

How do you tell the difference between an Architect and a Designer?

The Architect is walking around the job waving one hand - The Designer is waving both. (frantically)

It's more of a visual joke..... :cool:

Add: How do you tell who the GC is?
He has his hands in everyones pockets - including yours.
 
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