Just heard a GC say drafters are just "CAD monkeys" and it stuck with me

I was grabbing coffee at this shop near the jobsite yesterday and overheard a GC talking to his foreman. He said something like "just have the CAD monkey fix it" about a change order. Made me think. We do way more than just push buttons. We catch clashes, suggest better routings, save their asses on material waste. Has anyone else run into this attitude? How do you deal with contractors that treat you like you don't actually understand construction?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_simon1mo ago

Read this article the other day about how some GCs still think drafting is just pushing buttons on a keyboard. Total joke. @fiona_west21 has the right idea though, nothing shuts that down faster than handing them a print out with their own screw ups highlighted in red. I saw a guy do that with a ductwork clash that saved about twelve grand in rework, and the GC never called him a monkey again.

karen_sanchez491mo ago

@fiona_west21 that clash report suggestion is gold, honestly. The other day I caught a major ductwork conflict with a fire suppression line before it even got to the field. Told the GC about it and he just shrugged like I was making it up. Three weeks later his guys are staring at a wall of red tagged pipe and he's calling me asking how to fix it. Real shocker that the "CAD monkey" knew what they were talking about. Maybe I should start printing those clash reports on actual bananas to get the point across.

fiona_west211mo ago

Call them on it directly but keep it professional. Hand them a marked-up clash report or routing suggestion next time and watch the tone change quick.