The planning, design, and construction industries are often required to seamlessly integrate for a successful project. From big-picture planning through design and into the physical construction details, these professionals need to be able to efficiently and effectively communicate between different professional cultures. This is made possible by a common language. Below are some acronyms that are frequently used to bridge the gap throughout the planning, design, and construction worlds:
AIA (American Institute of Architects): The professional organization for Architects in the United States
BIM (Building Information Modeling): An intelligent, 3D model-based design and analysis tool that provides a digital representation of a facility’s physical and functional aspects; used by the industry to design buildings, analyze their systems, and coordinate construction
CFCI (Contractor Furnished, Contractor Installed): Items in the scope of the project, e.g. appliances, that are to be purchased and installed by the contractor as part of the contract
CPM (Critical Path Method): A project management tool used for scheduling project activities; this tool identifies the longest stretch of dependent activities and measures the time required to complete them from start to finish
FFL (Finished Floor Level): The height at which the finished floor of a building or structure is proposed to be built; finished floor refers to the top layer of flooring, or the layer that is walked on
GC (General Contractor): The contractor who oversees and manages the construction project
GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price): A contract type under which a maximum price is set for a construction project, beyond which the contractor absorbs additional costs
NIC (Not In Contract): An item or area that is not part of the work to be performed under the project scope
NTS (Not To Scale): Usually a drawing by the architect or engineer which is not drawn to a specific reference scale
OAC (Owner-Architect-Contractor): Typically referring to a recurring meeting in which the owner, architect, and contractor meet to discuss project progress
OFCI (Owner Furnished, Contractor Installed): Items in the scope of the project, e.g. appliances, that are to be provided by the owner and installed by the contractor
RFI (Request For Information): A process used in construction to request clarification about documents, drawings, specifications or other project conditions, usually initiated by the contractor and responded to by the design team
RFP (Request For Proposal): A document that solicits proposals by a company or agency interested in procurement of services, typically referring to design or construction services
VIF (Verify In Field): An existing condition, such as a dimension, to be verified at the project site by the contractor
WBS (Work Breakdown Structure): A project management tool that takes a step-by-step approach to larger projects by breaking down the project into smaller components
These represent only a small sample of the hundreds of acronyms that are used daily to aid in the communication between Plan-Design-Build teams. What acronyms did we miss that you run into in the planning, design, or construction industry?