43 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
43 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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id:
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aliases: []
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tags:
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- destiny/fleeting
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- status/complete
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- topic/estimating
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- topic/risk
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- type/encyclopedia
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title: Gold Plating
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---
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# Gold Plating
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Gold plating, also "overengineering", is the frustratingly common design practice
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of arbitrarily requiring components or methods far more stringent than typical.
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In [[construction-estimating]],
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such cases quickly reveal every error of assumption made by the estimator.
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> [!example] Aluminum Feeders ILO Copper
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> The typical value engineering option for electrical installations
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> is to use aluminum wiring in lieu of copper above a certain size.
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> Assuming competent installation,
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> such an option is strictly functionally equal to the design.
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> There is _no_ difference to capacity, future expansion, or long-term maintenance.
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> Moreover, the substitution is invisible to the client,
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> such that they would have to employ an electrician
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> to determine whether it had been taken.
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Such issues are usually VE'd out of scope before award.
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It often goes that projects are designed in gold,
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but built in cardboard.
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Clients tend to want the highest end--
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and design firms are incentivized to provide--
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but seeing the bill tends to reorganize priorities.
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For some owners, though, money is no object,
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and standardization is far more important
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than any potential construction savings.
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These owners can be expected to decline
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every value engineering option offered.
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