Hours per sheet as productivity measurement???

[Dwight]

I was talking with my still-drafting-on-a-board-unsightly-graphite-elbows architect neighbor.

He said this:

"When i worked in a big firm, we estimated that it would take forty hours per drawing sheet. With AutoCAD it grew to 60 and with [unnamed upstart BIM software] it is 120."

World Trade Format ????? I said to myself.

I think that this is an absurd way to measure architectural productivity, but my neighbor, an otherwise intelligent and competent person, is convinced that the computer is a productivity hole and this is his take.

In my own work, Archicad broadens my scope and brings delight to the visualizing and documentation process. That's partly because I don't make complex, evolving drawing sets. And it is in the revising that computers excell! I think Archicad improves the quality of my work but on a productivity basis it is impossible for me to evaluate.

Could you please take a few moments to comment on your experience?

- does anyone care how much time it takes to produce a "sheet" of drawings? OR estmate job costs this way? Sort of silly to use '50's methods to evaluate modern production.

- how much does the time hole of computer and software management detract from the promise of multiplied productivity? I spend way more time learning about software and way less time producing - but that is because i want to expand my knowledge and not just do a job...

-what other problems tarnish the promise of turning architecture into a video game? Should Archicad have a shotgun object for flythrus?

[Anonymous]

TomWaltz wrote:

Matthew wrote:
What? Does KA charge less for inaccurate and incomplete drawings? How do you calculate the delta?

That's kind of my point: It's a cost, not a charge. If we only charge for 30 hours per sheet and it takes 50 because if inaccuracy, that's a really bad thing!

You do realize I intended that as a joke?

My point is also that it is a way of roughly estimating cost (to the firm) not price (to the client). Price is (or should be) determined by value. The higher the value you can provide (and sell to the client) for the lowest cost (to the firm) the greater the earnings.

This is of course an area where architects are notoriously ineffective. Too many are happy just to earn a decent wage in return for accepting an ongoing liability - and thus may charge by hours per sheet.

[Anonymous]

To put it bluntly, your architect friend is an idiot. How many of you know of someone who went back to paper and pencil after using CAD?

[TomWaltz]

Dyefrog wrote:
To put it bluntly, your architect friend is an idiot. How many of you know of someone who went back to paper and pencil after using CAD?

I know a couple, but they also did not know which side of the mouse went down on the desk. (Why does my mouse keep blinding me??)