Phillip L. McDade, FASLA, FCSI, CCS
by Susan Hines
Nominated for service to the profession, Phillip L. McDade, FASLA, FCSI, CCS, was elected to ASLA's Council of Fellows in 2002 and was invested at the 2002 annual meeting in San Jose, California. His desire to be a credible lead professional on major construction projects led Phil McDade to the Mississippi Chapter of the Construction Specification Institute--an organization focused on the laws, practices, and processes of the construction industry. He is committed to educating the architects, engineers, and contractors that make up CSI that landscape architecture should be included in the technical and contract document phase of a project. I spoke with him in San Jose.Phil McDade, FASLA, president of Weatherford/McDade in Jackson, Mississippi, has long preached the importance of construction specifications. He is concerned that landscape architects--to their professional detriment--may choose not to listen. The first landscape architect elected to fellowship in the 18,000-member Construction Specification Institute, McDade currently serves as CSI president. Thus, it's hardly surprising that he emphasizes the importance of creating accurate construction documents for every project. Yet, he admits that, like many landscape architects, he hasn't always recognized the importance of construction specifications to the advancement of the profession. After graduating from Mississippi State University, the young landscape architect worked for the Virginia Department of Highways. There, much to McDade's relief, "We could do drawings, but were not allowed to write specifications. After meeting some people in the specifications department, I said, 'Oh, thank you Lord. I don't want to be like them.' But, in reality, those people taught me a lot about the whole big picture principle." A job working for the Pearl River Valley Water Supply District brought him back to his native Mississippi. Here, he learned more about the importance of specifications as he managed a 33,000-acre lake, 18,000 acres of land, and a third of the district workforce. Overseeing both the builders and the maintenance workers, he gained new insight into the importance of specifications and began writing specs for his construction projects in the district. McDade partnered with Dwight Weatherford, FASLA, in 1980. When he joined the firm, McDade had a vision. "I saw that LAs could be the prime consultants on multifaceted jobs. For most of the major projects we have worked on, we have been the prime consultant--we have hired the architects and the engineers." The firm's work is diverse. They have created water parks, renovated golf courses, and performed college campus work. Recently, Weatherford/McDade received a state award for a 40-mile-long bike trail that stretches from Hattiesburg to Prentice, Mississippi. McDade's desire to function as a lead professional on major construction projects highlighted the importance of construction specs as communications tool between disciplines. As a landscape architect, his credibility as a construction professional was questioned frequently. "When we first started our practice, there were civil engineers who didn't want to work with us because they thought that we designed roads using a French curve--they kind of dissed us, so to speak. I have had a 25-year campaign trying to prove them wrong--to show that we are more technically competent, that we do know that water runs downhill, in addition to learning green side up." Even today, McDade complains, "Landscape architects have great credibility for being 'big picture' people--we can come up with marvelous ideas--but the perception is we have to hire the architects and the engineers to make them become a reality and that kind of thinking has always aggravated me mightily. I don't like that; I really don't." He goes on to say that landscape architects should aspire to dream, design, and oversee the construction side--or at least to know how the construction should be handled. "We can be great stewards of the land and we can show people these ideas, but I was always taught in college that if you don't do the things necessary to get them built it doesn't matter how great your ideas are." Writing appropriate specifications assures that a project will be built to the LA's plans. According to McDade, clarifying exactly how each phase of a project should be carried out and who is responsible for every aspect of the job means people work smarter. "Everything is not on the drawings," he stresses. "The documents and the drawings go together to form the plan." In addition to protecting design integrity, construction specification documents offer legal protection. In fact, McDade's life changed after attending a CSI seminar called "Coordinating Plans and Specifications." To emphasize the importance of proper construction details, the instructor told the story of a landscape architect who lost everything in a lawsuit resulting from an accident on a jobsite. Although he was just a sub-consultant on a much larger project, the LA had failed to note in the documents that the general contractor was responsible for safety on the jobsite. Since the accident occurred during the landscaping phase, the landscape architect was held accountable. Looking back, McDade calls the seminar "career changing." Should there be greater emphasis on writing construction specifications in school? McDade acknowledges, "Compared with design studio where the sky is the limit and you are working for Mr. Rich Pockets, learning specifications is like watching paint dry." Yet, "it is those specifications which will cause a contractor to take you to court, and every dime that you have ever thought about earning from Mr. Rich Pockets you are going to lose; you are going to lose your house and everything you have ever worked for because you did something in those specifications that you shouldn't have done, or else you transferred that responsibility to someone else." McDade's attorney once "held the spec book up and said, 'Phil, this is your shield. If you step out from behind your shield, you will get everything you deserve.' The documents outline the rules of the game. If you don't read the rules before playing the game, then whose fault is it?" Just as he sees construction specification as a means of communication, so he sees CSI as a roundtable for everyone from suppliers and subcontractor to landscape architects and engineers. "CSI is a forum and opportunity," McDade says. "You have every profession: contractors, subs, architects, engineers--even lawyers and accountants. Anybody who is related to the construction industry has this forum. Although I may not agree with your point of view on a given issue, I get an opportunity to understand your point of view. Doesn't mean I like it, but I get to understand it. That to me is the beautiful thing about it." In addition to the oft-cited need to "educate the public about what landscape architects do," McDade argues that the profession needs to engage more with other design and construction professionals. LAs need to understand the perspective of architects and engineers and vice versa. "If you are trying to site a house on a mountain, the civil engineer would just as soon chop off the top of the mountain to get a really good foundation for the house. The landscape architect is going to work with the architect to hang the house on the side of the mountain, and save the mountain and still get you in there. It's not that either one is bad--it's just that these professions have two diametrically different views." "Saying the same thing but not communicating is not productive. If everybody is singing off the same sheet of music," McDade points out, "it's a whole lot easier to get things done. That's working smarter, and that's what CSI is about."
Susan Hines is the editor of LAND Online |
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