Engineers / Managers - What would you do?

[URY914]

Kill his dog.

[jpachard]

Originally Posted by URY914

Kill his dog.

Steal his pickup truck....Wait, this is sounding like a country song....

[stomachmonkey]

Produce the most fubared drawings known to man, put his name in the title block, drop it on his desk.

[Stuart993]

I'm assuming the drawings are electronic, AutoCad or similar. The first signatures on these document are "wet" signatures, how can he sign your name?

[MotoSook]

It's common practice at engineering sweat shops for drawings to be produced in space and then they all get assigned a border file which would include the title block. Drafters then modify to get the right drawing name and number including any other information.

The lack of details in the PO makes it seem like there is malice involved, but before he goes out and sleeps with his wife's dog's sister in his pickup truck he should be professional and calm in his approach.

Managers have a difficult enough time with personnel. Let them decide how to handle it if it needs to be done on a supervisor level.

[RKDinOKC]

Simplest solution, find the original of the title block and/r border being used and remove your name.

However, as a former engineering manager...those drawings should be being "checked by" someone and they should be addressing the "drawn by" AND be responsible for any other errors.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by Soukus

Maybe he's just reusing the base file which has you info in the title block.

This is basically what's happening. What bothers me is that he is changing titles, projects, etc in the title block, and yet he is neglecting to remove my name.

Originally Posted by red-beard

Doesn't someone sign the drawings?

No. Our document control system is embarrassing.

Originally Posted by Soukus

Managers have a difficult enough time with personnel. Let them decide how to handle it if it needs to be done on a supervisor level.

My manager will just try to smooth this over. I want to have a reasonable demand when I present the issue to him.

[jpachard]

Originally Posted by gtc

This is basically what's happening. What bothers me is that he is changing titles, projects, etc in the title block, and yet he is neglecting to remove my name.


No. Our document control system is embarrassing.


My manager will just try to smooth this over. I want to have a reasonable demand when I present the issue to him.

What CAD software are you using? It's pretty easy to implement templates with title blocks that are driven by metadata.

Cheers, James

[MotoSook]

Really, I would approach the guy first and let him know you don't want him to do it anymore and that you will fire off an e-mail to your super that there was a problem and your resolved it and you just want him to be aware of it. Obviously that is your CYA item.

We don't know the dynamics of relationship to this guy nor how your company is run, but you may gain more in the long run to approach this with a cool head.

[gtc]

Originally Posted by jpachard

What CAD software are you using? It's pretty easy to implement templates with title blocks that are driven by metadata.

Cheers, James

Autocad. I use templates that were created before I started working here in '06.

I have no idea how to do that stuff. Any idea where to look for a tutorial on that sort of thing?

[gtc]

Honestly I hate the guy's guts and would love little more than to see him get canned. But I will probably talk to him about it before going to management.

[MotoSook]

Kill'em softly....

Honestly I hate the guy's guts and would love little more than to see him get canned. But I will probably talk to him about it before going to management.

[eastbay]

Or, maybe he has learned the hard way that 'other persons at a later date' have modified (f'd up) his signed work without his knowledge, so he doesn't want his name on them.

Been known to happen

[Scuba Steve]

Originally Posted by red-beard

And then?

Profit!

[einreb]

Originally Posted by gtc

I will probably talk to him about it before going to management.

Talk to him to address the immediate issue.

Talk to management to figure out what business process needs to be put in place so this doesn't happen again. If its happening with your name, its likely happening with others.

[island911]

He -is- an idiot. The sooner you accept that the better off you'll be. If you can't fire him, find someone who can.

[Superman]

Park in his parking space.

[Eric Coffey]

Schedule a meeting with the "Bobs".

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Are you stamping them?

Probably not.

If not, you have something in your court to show that you are not certifying that the drawings are being prepared as instruments of professional service under your responsible control. So any attempt to implicate you LEGALLY for any E&O on them is questionable at best and could probably be contested pretty easily. HOWEVER, I understand that this has to be irritating and probably you're more concerned with damage to reputation and having to field all the "WTF is this" phone calls.

If the guy is on my staff, I would tell him point blank if he's putting my initials or name in the title block (under "checked by" or "prepared by" or whatever, not "drafted by" or "drafter") then the drawings need to be submitted directly to me in advance of any deadline to be reviewed/QC-ed prior to any issuance to a third party (client, AHJ, whatever). First time he does this, red mark the shat out of it and kick it back to him. I guarantee his work will improve as it will "call him out" on his sloppiness. The obvious downside is it creates more work for you.

If the guy is NOT on my staff, I'd have a conversation with his manager immediately about this - bring several specific examples of sheets with errors/omissions along (highlight the mistakes) and demand that either he or someone on his staff QC this stuff better and certainly NOT use my name/initials on the sheets. If they insist that you have your name on the sheets for whatever reason (maybe you're the only licensed guy in the office?) then as a matter of professionalism you absolutely NEED to review those drawings before they go out - their production schedules need to build in necessary time to accommodate that - none of this "well, we couldn't wait for you to look at them so we just sent them out". I'd raise hell about it if that's the case.

If you're actually stamping the drawings, you're in a potential world of hurt. I seriously hope that's not the case. Anything stamped by you MUST be produced under your responsible control (that term has a very precise definition, usually in your state's laws governing professional services). Basically if you stamp it, you own it - doesn't matter whose initials are on it.

Best of luck. Don't let this one lie but don't blow it out of proportion either. Defend your reputation and don't let anyone else besmirch it - unintentionally or otherwise. And if possible try to turn it into a positive experience for the drafting guy (yes, red-marking the heck out of a set will cause friction, but he'll learn from it and it'll make him better).

[rnln]

His wife's pic is below. Now, what's next?

Originally Posted by lendaddy

I'll have to hear how it goes first