Owners and contractors never seem to understand the role of the design professional in the shop drawing and submittal process. Owners want no responsibility for review, and contractors want A/e's to bless the submittals and absolve them from compliance with the plans and specifications. Even when the AIA was negotiating changes to the A201 for 1997, there was a dramatic disagreement over the proper allocation of responsibility for shop drawings.
Contractors have taken to forwarding their subcontractors' shop drawings without stamping them and architects have added burdensome language to their shop drawing stamps. Does any of this really limit liability? The short answer is "no," but careful contracting and diligent review will minimize more common sources of shop drawing--related liability.
