Do the designers at the design institute have the right to modify the process package provided by the client? ?
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The situation is as follows: the owner now needs to prepare the construction drawings, and the process package is prepared by an external company, including things like PID diagrams. After receiving this information, the design agency was asked by the owner to recalculate the process data contained in the process package and to make modifications to the PID pipelines and so on Have any of you ever encountered such a situation? The project is a set of construction drawings, yet the owner requests the design institute to modify the process package. I believe the design institute does not have the authority to make changes to the contents of the process package, as it wasn’t the institute that created it; if changes are needed, they should be made by the company responsible for the process package. Please share your opinions.
If the client requests it, the process package provider agrees. Written documents can be changed.
The design institute does not modify the process package. In your contracting model, the design institute does not handle the process engineering; it only deals with the process systems and piping. In one sentence for them: The process package isn’t ours; we don’t understand it. First, the design institute really doesn’t understand much; it’s easy to make mistakes when making changes. If the owner refuses to sign, it’s still we who will suffer if there are mistakes… Second, money and time are also issues; a pure schematic design role that involves no involvement in process management, procurement, construction, or construction supervision results in very limited earnings. Who would be willing to help the owner with such things? Hurry up and finish this one so we can move on to the next project...
I’m mainly worried about the issue of responsibility; if something is changed and a problem arises in that modified area in the future, whose fault will it be?
The basic data cannot be changed, but obvious errors can be corrected.
In a situation like the one you described, you certainly have no right to modify the contents of the process package, unless it’s a very obvious error. To be more explicit: first, you do not have the capability to modify the process package. As for the owner’s request that you recalculate the data within the process package, in my opinion it’s complete nonsense. The owner is trying to do something that involves giving up something valuable in order to gain something trivial; they want to give someone one dollar while expecting them to accomplish work worth 1,000 dollars – that’s clearly absurd! Secondly, unless you are part of a large industrial complex, companies like Luoyang Petrochemical or Huanyu probably have the capability to modify the process packages. Third: another very important issue is that if you modify the data and the manufacturing process doesn’t work in the end, who will be held responsible? Making further modifications will take a lot of your time, which is equivalent to starting a new project. As mentioned earlier, your time and money are limited; you can’t focus on things other than construction, procurement, and process development – you can only deal with design drawings, in other words, just drawing diagrams. The profit margin in this area is very low, so you can’t afford to waste time on it. You should finish this project quickly and move on to the next one; it’s not possible to spend a lot of time on this project. Solution: Learn to protect your own rights and interests. Check how the contract was signed; if the process package needs to be modified, a new contract must be drawn up to determine the costs and identify potential risks in the future, so as to resolve any disputes over interests. It ultimately needs to be determined by your boss. If the boss is just like the owner, then let the boss modify the process package himself; there’s nothing more to discuss in that case ； If the boss is on your side, things will be much easier! I’m also relying on my own opinions; I hope my answer can help you!
Changing the process package is a futile effort that yields no good results; it can’t be done
It can be changed. If the client asks you to make changes, you have no choice, but you need to ensure that the client signs and confirms it. One must also be aware of the process changes, and whether those changes will enable meeting the client’s production requirements – at least in terms of principles and standards.
The process package cannot be modified; the design institute is responsible for pointing out the issues in the package provided by the relevant party, but any modifications to the process package still require changes to be made by that party
This claim is supported by the fact that if he is clearly wrong, the design institute will send a letter to the client to have them verify the process package again. If there’s an error in the process package, we can at least charge a small fee for the modifications. If the owner confirms that it’s correct, then let’s make things clear upfront: we can’t be blamed if the car won’t start.
Generally, it is the customer who requests changes; only after signing in writing do we, as the design firm, have the authority to make those changes. Additionally, if we have standards available, we can make the changes according to those standards, subject to the customer’s approval