THE CODE CONNECTION

Authority and Responsibility

Dispute and confusion about code enforcement occurs daily.  Building inspectors, construction superintendents, owners, architects, engineers, utility representatives and so forth all have a different point of view.  And rightly so, because they all have different responsibilities and powers.  The key to success is to keep these varied interests from being in conflict.  Here's a guiding principal to help you prevent and avoid conflict.  It works for all roles.

One of the most important lessons I ever learned as a student of architecture came from an elder of the profession.  Glen McConnell was a registered architect, a registered engineer and a registered surveyor - all three - a phenomenon you don't see today.  Glen said "the most important thing can you to be a successful is to keep authority and responsibility on parallel tracks.  Don't ever assume responsibility for something you don't have authority for and don't ever assume authority for something you don't have responsibility for".  I call it the Authority/Responsibility Principal.  Authority and responsibility are "two sides of the same coin".  And half a coin is always a bad idea.  Think about it.  How many disputes can you think of that are a direct result of a violation of this principle?

An extrapolation of the Authority/Responsibility Principal has to do with "operative" and "final" levels of application.  There is an "operative level of authority" and a "final level of authority".  And on the other side of the coin is an "operative level of responsibility" and a "final level of responsibility". 

As a general rule you can delegate an operative level of but you cant delegate a final level.  And it is sometimes easier to assume or receive an operative level than a final level.  CAUTION: this is often where disputes begin.  Either someone has tried to delegate only half of the authority/responsibility coin or someone has tried to assume half of the authority/responsibility coin.  Whether delegated or assumed, taking on the "whole coin" is always yields a better result.