Pulling my hair out over numerous spelling errors on recent drawings from a 20yr+ client. My favorite is “cementitious” spelled with 2 C’s as “cementicious”. Does anyone have a good response to the architect who does not seem to care. IMHO this is a slap in the face and allows the contractor to ridicule the Architect.
Gee, Jerry, based on the various 4specs threads on drawing errors and the like, contributors to 4specs have been ridiculing architects for years.
nice to hear from you too David. Seriously what do you tell your clients regarding insane spelling errors on their drawings.
When I notice spelling errors on the drawings, I now just ignore them, unless I believe that they could mislead people and lead to the wrong results. I realized I was spending too much time letting architects know about every little spelling error that I noticed, so I just let them know about those that I believe could lead to problems. In the same way that lots of the people producing the drawings don’t notice the slightly misspelled words, many of the people working with the drawings (contractor) also don’t notice the slightly misspelled words.
Seriously, I agree with Liz. With tight project schedules and limited time, I’d comment on spelling or terminology errors only where the intent is unclear or they could be misunderstood.
How about “flog pole” for “flag pole” on a public school project?
Seriously, most CAD software has spell check built into it. Although it won’t catch every thin, it could go a long way.
My attitude is more like Liz’s. I have to concentrate on really egregious issues like “Field apply powder-coated clear anodized finish to exposed steel structure” (not a real note, but the real one is just as bad.
David, Liz perhaps you are right, on this job “cementicious” is repeated at least 100 times, cementicious board, cementicious precast panel, cementicious trim…same drawings call for Exterior Drywall, Asphalt Roof Tile, R-19 Roofing, I could just scream.
Personally I can think of several projects that need a “flog pole.”
One of my favorites called for a “repelling wall” on a fire training facility. That brought up wonderful images; Harry Potter and all.
Are the spelling errors/typos in J. Peter Jordan’s post above a Freudian slip of some type, or placed there intentionally to see who is paying attention?
“Seriously, most CAD software has spell check built into it. Although it won’t catch every thin [sic], it could go a long way.” You’re right. It wouldn’t have caught this error. It also wouldn’t have caught the missing closed parenthesis.
More to the original question … I’ll point them out if I notice them. Usually it is just a cloud with comment “spelling?” … if I notice it over and over again I might add “update throughout” and ignore the remaining instances.
Although it’s been a while since I’ve looked at it, my recollection is that in Civitello’s “Contractor’s Guide to Change Orders” one of the things identified as a red-flag is misspellings in Documents (Drawings & Specs). This was considered to be an indicator of a less-than-diligent document effort which meant the Contractor would be well-advised to examine the documents carefully for potential change orders because, if the design team doesn’t care about spelling, it’s probable that they don’t care about other things as well.
thanks John, Civtello’s book is an excellent source, I forgot I had it in my library, perhaps because I have it in hardback, who has time to look at books that are not digital.
I just enjoy them as a light form of entertainment unless, like Liz points out, they could be misleading.
Keep in mind too, many who place notes on drawings did not “grow up” with English, which is a language given to many mysterious spellings [is it through, or is it threw, or is it throo?]. For those who did come from an English speaking home, well . . .
I was upset when my kids (now in their twenties) were encouraged by their primary school teachers to write without regard to spelling. There was a period in the 90s and early 2000s when emphasis on correct spelling was thought to discourage kids from expressing themselves in their writing. I insisted they were smart enough to express themselves AND spell correctly at the same time.
Standard spelling is something one learns very early and it sticks, and poor spelling habits are very hard to unlearn. As several of you have pointed out, incorrectly spelled words are almost never deal-breakers, but with all of the tools we have, we should be close to perfect.
Punctuation errors, on the other hand, can be deal-breakers.
I had the world’s meanest English teachers in junior high and high school and I am ever so grateful for that today. My 7th grade English teacher said to the class on the first day “Analyze and criticize and I won’t penalize.” I’m sure many of us didn’t know what that meant at the time but we soon learned.
I was blessed, or cursed, to be placed in a freshman honors composition class in college. Everyone made an A in the class because the professor simply returned every paper we presented to him with mistakes circled in red pen. It was our responsibility to determine what the mistake was and correct it. I turned one paper in three times before it was expunged of errors! By the end of the semester all students had turned in A-level work.
I don’t get too bothered by reversals, since my old fingers occasionally do that also. More meaningful are homonyms, like ‘coarse’ instead of ‘course.’ Alas, some misspellings have to do with just plain ignorance and the drafter being unwilling to ask about the term before writing a drawing note. As an example, a while back I saw “sheeps ladder” on the drawings that calls up a memorable image.
Drafter must have been around too many Aussies!
Nice photo, although I am concerned about the future of the sheep after they reach the top rung…
Note: The phrase should be “sheep’s ladder” since the word sheep is already plural.
Good catch on the misplaced apostrophe.