This is the second in a series of columns continuing from 2022’s original column, “Delegated Design in Fire Protection Engineering, Part 1” (https://bit.ly/3uWLfGE.) It set the stage by defining delegated design as it fits in the fire protection engineering and design industry. This column was originally intended to be a more formal discussion. Instead, we’ve decided to have an informal roundtable discussion, but still with the intent to seek greater understanding and improve implementation.

Our informal discussion was captured with the help of artificial intelligence integrated into a teleconferencing application. You could say we “delegated” this part of the article creation.

Roundtable panelists:

John Denhardt, PE, FSFPE, American Fire Sprinkler Association

Scott Futrell, FSFPE, CFEI, KFI Engineers

Thomas W. Gardner, PE, FSFPE, LEED AP, Harrington Group 

Mark Hopkins, PE, FSFPE, Summit Fire Consulting

Shaun Kelly, PEng, CEng, EUR ING, IntPE, Arencon

Brandon Wilkerson, PE, Rated Engineering

We asked the panelists to consider the following questions:

1. Is there a need to document delegated design responsibilities at the start of the project? If yes, what should be documented?

2. Is it common to see delegated design in fire protection projects? 

3. What are the different types of projects that you have observed that used delegated design?

4. What should the engineer of record do if the contractor is crossing the line?

5. How do you suggest we get the fire protection engineering community involved in getting the word out about this issue?

6. Have you, as an engineer, been brought into a delegated design for any reason? Do you believe the owner could have saved time and money by engaging you as the engineer in the first place?

7. If you, as the engineer, delegate design of a certain aspect of fire protection, are you professionally responsible for ensuring the adequacy of the delegated design as it relates to the project’s overall adequacy (e.g., code compliance, budget, schedule, etc.)?

With the above questions in mind, the following are some highlights of the free-flowing roundtable discussion on delegated design.

John Denhardt: If the design architectural and engineering (AE) team does not want to hire a professional and wants to delegate responsibilities to a contractor or other people, that is fine if it is clearly differentiated. There are issues when the AE then puts a note in the specification that says, “This part is delegated design.” You assume all engineering responsibilities, and the contractors do not do much with it. 

I have a project right now where the engineer did some preliminary work and noted it on the drawing, and the drawings were never signed and sealed. So, is there any engineer of record for that system? 

Scott Futrell: At times, I see the design team, specifically the mechanical engineer, disclaiming that they are not going to review any contractor-produced documentation.

Mark Hopkins: I recently came across a spark suppression system that required a process analysis by the owner, some sort of risk assessment, and yet the contractor was given the task of doing a set of shop drawings and installation. So, it sets the contractor up to function as the person doing the risk assessment, making assumptions on behalf of the owner, and then also becoming the engineer of record to get the project completed. 

Brandon Wilkerson: What I see a lot is engineers do something more than delegated design; they attempt to transfer all their liability to the contractor. How do we say, “Provide a sprinkler system that is compliant with applicable codes,” and then you tell them to hire their own engineer [to review for compliance]? 

Tom Gardner: We delegate parts of the design, so for those parts, we provide design criteria instead of detailing items such as the sprinklers, the branch lines and the mains. For those items we don’t delegate, we do detail items such as underground loops, lead-ins, location/size of sprinkler manifolds and fire pump rooms/houses. We delegate the items that contractors are better at than we are, such as routing mains and detailing hanging and bracing.

Wilkerson: There are times a client says, “No thanks, we only want you to give us criteria.” I see some engineers not providing real performance criteria and, therefore, are not creating competitively biddable documents, and then they’re going to lump all the risk on the contractor. And so, I do not know if it is worth saying [here] that is not how this relationship between engineer and engineering technician is supposed to work.

Shaun Kelly: In Canada, we do not have a problem with a professional engineer being involved from start to finish, and that is largely driven by the authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) because you will not get a permit unless a professional is involved. Usually, it is “general review” — that is the term used and it’s defined in Canada’s Professional Engineers Act. 

However, there is a requirement to have a professional engineer (PE) stamp the drawings when they go in for a permit. There is also a requirement for a PE to be engaged for a general review of construction and to issue a sign-off at the end. 

We see a lot of problems where the engineer may be retained, may not necessarily be a fire protection engineer, or may not necessarily have a background in fire protection engineering. So, they tick the box for having a professional engineer involved. That does not mean they are an expert in sprinklers or any aspect of fire protection. And that often happens when the design is entirely delegated to the contractor. 

It is those specific instances where it might be entirely delegated, and there may not be an engineer who has knowledge in fire protection involved.

Gardner: I wonder if delegating design is allowing more non-fire professionals to try their hand at fire protection. I wonder if a non-fire protection engineer says, “Oh, well, I am an engineer, I have a stamp and I am simply going to delegate it all to the contractor.” This position promotes more people working outside their area of expertise.

Hopkins: Another aspect that starts to creep in is that there are certain sections in master specs that include delegated design, and we often see inexperienced people leave those sections in without even understanding what they mean. So, in some context, they are transferring the engineering responsibility over even though they are getting paid to perform those services. 

And I think it largely comes to having somebody who doesn’t understand how the specs operate and how they should be used. [They don’t strike] out those provisions because it could even be documented in the engineers and the engineering technicians’ roles, such as evaluating water supplies. 

Yet they include water supply data, then delegate that responsibility over to the contractor and do not give them any guidance in terms of how to do the evaluation.

Futrell: One of the problems I have with this, some of the comments as well as National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards, is that we have people in big cities with big buildings, lots of buildings, dictating what [must] happen to little cities and little buildings. And there is no permit requirement enforcement outside of big cities in almost every state. 

[Delegated design] cannot be left to the permit process because I have had more than a few contractors call me and say, “I am not comfortable doing this, so we would like you to work with this owner and design this project.” One of them was a dust hazard analysis. However, when we approached the owner, it was: “No thanks, I only want the sprinkler contractor to come in here and install a sprinkler system.” 

Denhardt: The design, the engineering must be done on every job. I don’t care if it’s a 10-head little shed versus a billion-dollar house, warehouse, dust explosion or whatever. My point is, designated design or delegated design, who will be the responsible party?

[We need someone] coordinating all those different trades. Whether it is in my price as a contractor or my price is going to the AE; there is no reason a sprinkler contractor cannot do the sprinkler analysis if it has a qualified person on staff. Somebody has got to take the legal responsibility for that document. And again, whether there’s a permit process or not, legally, somebody such as a professional engineer must do the engineering analysis. 

Gardner: Florida has a good handle on delegated design with its Rule 61G15-32, “Responsibility Rules of Professional Engineers Concerning the Design of Fire Protection Systems.” Unfortunately, this is often misinterpreted that the fire protection engineer is required to develop shop drawing-level designs. 

Wilkerson: I regularly encourage contractors to report negligent engineers to the engineering board. It is my understanding that most engineering boards have a way to report anonymously when a contractor would be worried about retribution.

Hopkins: When you are in a location with engineers and you have design-bid-build projects, that may be one scenario, but often, in less populated areas, it goes direct from the owner to the contractor. And then, on the enforcement side, you may not have somebody who is educated or knowledgeable in terms of what they are reviewing, which compounds the problem.

Denhardt: The Maryland State Fire Marshals Association believes as long as you are a licensed contractor, you do not need an engineer involved. 

Wilkerson: In Oklahoma’s Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) chapter, [we’ve attempted to develop] minimum standards for the practice of fire protection engineering to help code officials know when a project is complicated enough that it likely exceeds a standalone engineering technician performing all the design.

Kelly: It is going to take a combined approach and looking at the codes and the regulations, the AHJs, and what enforcement powers they have and really us, self-regulation, because not every project is going to trigger a permit. In Ontario[, Canada], there may be small adjustments to a sprinkler system that, when you go to the jurisdiction, does not even meet the threshold for requiring a permit. 

There is a section [in Ontario construction codes] that sets out what the thresholds are in terms of building sizes and areas and the number of stories before you must engage an architect and a professional engineer. And there are specific sections of the code where it says, “This section requires design by a professional engineer.” 

It is going to take all those things. Regulation by way of codes, AHJs by way of enforcement, and what they require with submissions and us [as engineers].

Gardner: I think some people [believe that] delegated design is I am going to throw the whole thing on the contractor, tell him to follow NFPA 13, and all the engineer does is give them an architectural background.

Hopkins: I was brought on by the owner and delegated a big part of the design. I met with a group of contractors, we performed the flow test together, we agreed to the adjustment, and they all had the same information. We wrote a performance specification, but due to timing, it did not make sense for me to have my staff put together the drawings and everything because we are working against a tight time frame. 

It made more sense to agree to a design concept. We gave them the performance criteria and then delegated the development of the backgrounds and the design drawings to the contractor. And we stayed involved from the perspective of reviewing, ensuring that everything complied. I think that the review and compliance part is often left out.

Wilkerson: Part of the problem is engineers [and certain delegating individuals] do not know exactly what contractors feel comfortable doing on their own. So, they assume the contractor is trained and licensed to do it all, and they don’t understand what the limitations of the engineering technician’s capabilities are or should be. 

This is where the SFPE position paper indicates what should be in the engineer’s documents, and this is what should be in the technician’s documents. It might be a way to help educate some of these engineers who are over-delegating; help them understand where the contractor’s training, education and licensure stops.

Gardner: In our practice, we delegate certain pieces and parts of the design to the contractor [things they are better at than we are]. However, we check the contractor’s work through shop drawing submittal reviews and sufficient field verification during the construction period to ensure code compliance and that our design intent is carried forward.

Hopkins: Delegated design certainly has a place in what we do if handled correctly. However, another aspect of sales is where you have quality, speed and cost. And I was always trained you pick any two. So, if it must be done fast and cheap, guess what? Quality just went through the floor. And many times, contractors are fighting the clock, such as when they are developing shop drawings. So, it often leads to mistakes, problems, incorrect layouts and design efficiencies.

If you want to maintain a good, acceptable level of quality, then you need to use contractors who will give you that quality. And you need to start looking at quality as much as cost and speed. So, it becomes part of the discussion for engineers and contractors.

And if we ignore that piece and leave it to “you need to do it this fast and for as cheap as possible,” we will always experience those quality issues.

Denhardt: We have engineers taking a fee, telling an owner they are doing something and then trying to put it on the contractor. There are contractors who are not reading the specs and reading what they are buying into, and that is the problem. And then things get built, and we have issues. 

There are nurses who are better than doctors when you get into the weeds with some small stuff. However, I sure want a doctor overseeing the whole operation — and this metaphor extends to technicians and engineers.

Wilkerson: When I get involved with a contractor and I reject [the company’s] submittal, one of the first things I do, if this is a new contractor relationship, is call them: “First of all, I want to express my sympathy to you because I can tell that you haven’t ever received real engineering documents to work from before, and you haven’t had your work critiqued by an experienced engineer. 

“And I understand that your entire career before this moment, you have had zero professional supervision. So, I know this is going to be painful for us to go through together. I am sympathetic to you for that because 95% of engineers, I think, are worse at sprinkler and fire alarm design than 95% of sprinkler and fire alarm contractors.”

Neither engineers nor code officials are better than contractors. So, the contractors never know they are doing anything wrong because of a lack of proper feedback.

I agree that more detail is better from the engineer when it is done correctly. And then reiterating, I believe jurisdictions should enforce project complexity thresholds requiring engineers and or detailed layout by the engineer.

Hopkins: The first thing I would do is pick up the phone and call [the contractor] and have a conversation. And depending on the response, that will determine my actions from that point forward. So, I have had contractors use my engineering drawings with my stamp and signature and return them to me on the shop drawings. So, there is a case where, “OK, Mr. Contractor, you realize what you did completely broke the law,” and you move from there. 

Wilkerson: [I believe in] approaching the contractors with a sense of respect because of how hard their job is. So, it is important for us culturally as engineers to improve the attitude that we take toward contractors, understanding the world they have been living in before we showed up in it, and build relationships with them in a meaningful way and demonstrate to them the value that a well-educated fire protection engineer brings. 

I think they will become more likely to start pushing back from their position when the engineering documents are not acceptable, and we end up with an ally on the other side of the contractual fence. That has been very effective in my little bubble here.

Denhardt: I am going to tell you something, a little dirty secret. Contractors do not want to do the engineering part of this. We do not have the time. Our job as contractors is to make money by putting pipe in the air. 

I do not have a problem getting in front of my contractors and telling them to [find a fire protection engineer]. That is what needs to happen. We need to get the contractors and the other engineers educated. 

Engineering a Fire-Safe World

Delegated design isn’t going away, especially with the built and to-be-built environments ever-increasing in complexity, speed and efficiency. National codes and standards aren’t going to get rid of delegated design; that’s not in the interest of owners, much less contractors. It’s apparent our local and state jurisdictions do not have the authority to require educated, experienced fire protection engineers on every project. So, what do we do?

As engineers, we must learn to not only give work to but work with our contractor counterparts. We must be humble as fire protection engineers and identify when our expertise ends and that of the contractor begins. 

Those who may not hold fire protection degrees, career-long experience, or national/state recognition in the field must also realize (often legally) their own expertise. Call a fire protection professional when assistance is needed to usher a relationship and the success of a project. 

Don’t punt the proverbial football down the field; that’s when it’ll get fumbled. (And no, you don’t want the fumble to happen; we’re all playing the same game together.) It’s not about keeping score or beating the other team. The game is engineering a fire-safe world to protect people, property and the environment.

Don’t let the fumble happen.

Kyle Collins, PE, is a lead engineer with the Harrington Group. He began working in the fire protection engineering industry in 2013, with an emphasis on fire protection engineering analysis, fire water system design, smoke control system design, fire alarm system design, life safety analysis, code compliance review, DOD/DOE fire protection programs, new building construction, renovations and cost estimating. Collins is a member of the National Fire Protection Association and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE); he is president of the SFPE’s Greater Charlotte Chapter.