For the record Balkins: Of the three architects you named, only Whitehouse was an AIA member when OBAE was founded and when he received a license in Oregon. George Post was an AIA member from late 1920 until early 1923 - a total of about 2.5 years, all after he'd already been issued his license and been named secretary. John Wicks was never an AIA member - though the firm Wicks & Brown was briefly a member firm around the time of his death.
The AIA is not plotting against you. Nobody needs to plot against you. You're working against your own interests quite well on your own.
so in 2013, balkins submitted the following to the Oregon state board of examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying.
"To the Professional Practice Committee of OSBEELS and the board:
Hello, I am Richard W.C. Balkins and owner of Wavestar Interactive. This letter is to express my concerns about the licensing of software engineers and its implications on software development businesses such as my own. To begin, I will start by a little synopsis of my background and to extent what I do and then proceed on about my concerns.
BACKGROUND
My education and experience in this field in question traces back to 1986/1987."
so here's another example of balkins trying to design without a license. he's a true libertarian, paving the way for inexperienced clowns to design a better world without government intrusion.
He has previously claimed that he had light years more experience than any typical-college-student-aged person could have in both software engineering and building design, by virtue of the fact that the college students could not enter into professional contracts until so much more recently. And yet he's claiming to have professional experience as a software engineer dating to 1986. It's just more of those laws with which he's obsessed working one way for him and differently for the rest of the world.
Oh come on...Balkins is not the spokesman for unlicensed people...that's equally as absurd as comparing all unlicensed people to Maya Lin and FLW...Balkins is an extreme case of stupid, and his inability to get real projects is a huge testament to the regulating power of a free market. Also, software engineers are not licensed in most states!
another quote with regards to the theater from balkins,
" architects and building designers (licensed and non-licensed) has a professional degree of expectation to identify and know what is going to be safe and what is not. We would know this because of our education and experience."
so, balkins, you didn't know what was going to be safe and what was not. and you knew full well what would happen.
"I could be sued for negligence, tort, contraction or any other legal action for my services. That law is ORS 12.135 (OREGON REVISED STATUTES)"
what's scary is a found these quotes from the following news article, "Rogue Architect Sentenced in Death of L.A. Firefighter; AIA|LA Responds"
balkins, it seems that you are completely aware of the consequences of your actions. you're going to have a hard time defending yourself to the OBAE and anyone else who holds you accountable for the theater (which you didn't design to begin with).
the deputy fire marshall conducted an inspection 3 weeks ago. he has not written the report. the local fire chief, ted ames, did in fact say that deficiencies were found. since the report has not been written yet details will only be revealed to authorized agents of the owner or the owners of the property.
it can be put to rest that indeed the HSW is being addressed in this building.
any word from the OBAE yet?
Jun 9, 16 7:18 pm ·
·
Did you talk to him, today? or when did you talk to him?
Balkins is going to be like "THE PLAN EXAMINER WAS A MEXICAN, I'M BUILDING A WALL, HE'S A MEXICAN, I'M BUILDING A WALL, I'M BUILDING A WALL, JAKE, I'M BUILDING A WALL"
Someone sent me a personal message telling me not to respond to this thread anymore because he was tried of it. ....If you don't like my responses then don't read them you don't own me and you don't tell me what to do so you should check yourself and if you want to personally send me an email don't send me a messages-noreply@archinect.com where I can't talk to you. I spoke to the archinect staff about it so I know it isn't a staff member.
Jun 30, 16 7:37 pm ·
·
Look in your email at the Reply to: or click reply and you should see the actual email address. Of course you don't have to send the reply. It is that simple. This is how Archinect private message system works. The person who sent the email to you is already in the email header information.
I know how to find someone's email thru the messaging for Christ sake. I was not confused about that I am offended that some one is trying to tell how to run my life who wouldn't get offended by such an email. If it is you Richard who is emailing me (that is still unclear to me, who it is) you don't have to hide behind a non reply message system just send it using your regular email because it does not show it on my personal email. Anyways I have no problem with you and I hope to maybe go in a similar direction, becoming a building designer is a must for me while I continue on my journey to achieving architect status. I'm am also studying interior decorating and I am becoming quite the architectural visualization artist.
Jun 30, 16 8:27 pm ·
·
MyDream,
It's the ONLY mechanism I have to contact you on this forum. It doesn't tell me your damn email. Try sending a message for once and you know how this works. It always works this way. Unless you give your email out in a message on the forum, it is not possible to send an email to you without using this Contact mechanism. It is how the system works.
O I got confused because there is a email at the bottom of the thing once you click the contact button, which was my email....oops. I actually thought that you can get the persons email from the contact and I guess I was wrong. That still does not give you the right to tell me what to respond to or how. If you are embarrassed about the post you can delete the post if it will make you feel any better.
He can't delete his posts unless he deletes his account. He said earlier in this thread that he was going to do just that, but as usual he's all talk ad nauseum, and no action ever.
He can too delete the post without deleting his account by emailing a staff member and they will delete the post for him. I know this because I once had a post that I was not to proud of and I had it deleted by asking a staff member to help me out. Ask them and they should be glad to point you to the right person because there are a few of them who do certain things I forgot which one it was who helped me because it was a long time ago.
Ah, there are still some warm ambers here. Good, need a little heat for this cold night.
Jun 30, 16 9:31 pm ·
·
MyDream,
Maaaaaaybe..... maybe they don't. I could request the deletion of the thread which might be in the best interest of all parties, right? They have to be willing to do that.
I'm not sure that's in the best interest of all parties. It's in your best interest for it to be deleted, yes. But what about those who may find this thread while they are considering hiring an unlicensed "building designer"? What about those wondering whether AIBD membership is some legitimate mark of knowledge or professionalism? What about people considering hiring you specifically? I think all of those people have a right to find this thread and understand the risks. Let them see you claiming that UL doesn't publish tested assemblies, let them see you not know whether you have smoke vents on the building you designed because you don't know what one looks like. Let them see you make one arithmetic mistake after another. Let them see that you don't know how to use a measuring tape. Let them see you repeatedly rationalize danger to thousands of people. It's a valuable thread.
Jun 30, 16 10:19 pm ·
·
5839,
In 2007/2008, UL listings were not published online. I didn't have the UL books because it would cost several grand and the library doesn't much of anything useful to architects or designers. C.M.U. already has a 2-hr prescriptive rating. Doors and Assemblies would have a UL label / rating.
In addition, when I am replying upwards to about 50-60 or so posts from 15-20 individuals in two to three hours, there isn't a lot of time to read through and reply to every single one of them.
Try answering to 15-30 lawyers cross examining you one after the other. You know.... in court, you don't face that many lawyers questioning you at once.
You got maybe 2 to 4 lawyers. Usually one at a time and switches over, not 50-60 badgering you.
In addition, most of the areas at fault were areas being performed by engineers contracted by the client or contractor and other issues that were the result of the client and/or contractor after the fact over the course of operations. Architects don't have a perpetual duty to babysit and watchdog the client for the next 10-20 years. Nor do any of us designers.
PS: When the hell have I ever saw the drawings from any of the engineers the client commissioned during the project? Not a single time because the client nor the contractor involved me.
If you have a complaint about the mechanical exhaust systems and fire sprinklers, take it up with the engineers responsible for the preparation of those drawings. The electrical was prepared by an electrical contractor with master electrician status. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the electrical contractor.
Here's some fuel for this fire...no firm I have worked for has ever payed for the UL catalogs. They are given away by vendors, spec writers, and companies that rep multiple product lines. Also, previous to some point in this thread you had no clue UL designs existed let alone the published books or online design tool.
Do you think I am going to spend $2000+ on some piece of shit software on a 10 cent piece of plastic and very thin aluminum film coating) or on a bunch of books on a pro bono project for non-profit client. Really?
Rick - the damn books are free online for use at the link I posted.
Are you really that dense?
Jul 1, 16 3:35 pm ·
·
Josh,
Alright. Ask yourself, if the minimum requirement for a stage sq.ft. to not need to include that of the back stage is a 1-hour rated FIRE PARTITION let alone a fire barrier or a FIRE WALL.
It is an existing building with the remodel work to meet the requirements of Section 3412.
Fuck this argument crap. It is just going to go in circles because that is what you guys are going to do anyway. Since none of you are the building official so go fuck off.
It's been explained to you many times in this thread that you can't treat it as renovation of an existing building, because YOU CHANGED THE USE. Is that big and slow enough that maybe it will sink in this time? When you change the use of an existing building, codes apply as they would to a new building.
You don't have a valid fire separation if you don't either have a compliant parapet or continuous fire ratings - which you don't, because you've got exposed combustible ceiling/roof deck. There is effectively no separation, so the whole area counts as one, and puts you way over the area requirements.
As for UL books, they've been online at least as far back as 2002, maybe further, and you claimed right in this thread that "they don't publish that information". You didn't know the books existed. Even if you had known, cost wouldn't be a valid excuse. You don't get to design non-compliant buildings and say it's ok because you couldn't afford the resources you would have needed to design to code.
See how valuable this thread is? You've added that lesson to why not to try to cut corners by hiring a penniless "building designer".
CPBD exam specifications under review by NCBDC.
If they put him in the stocks I'll drive up to Astoria to get pictures for everybody here.
i'll supply the rotten vegetables.
Balkans, hard to exhaust everything when you had nothing to begin with.
Rick who runs behind a bus gets exhausted.
Rick who runs in front of a bus gets tired.
For the record Balkins: Of the three architects you named, only Whitehouse was an AIA member when OBAE was founded and when he received a license in Oregon. George Post was an AIA member from late 1920 until early 1923 - a total of about 2.5 years, all after he'd already been issued his license and been named secretary. John Wicks was never an AIA member - though the firm Wicks & Brown was briefly a member firm around the time of his death.
The AIA is not plotting against you. Nobody needs to plot against you. You're working against your own interests quite well on your own.
so in 2013, balkins submitted the following to the Oregon state board of examiners for Engineering and Land Surveying.
"To the Professional Practice Committee of OSBEELS and the board:
Hello, I am Richard W.C. Balkins and owner of Wavestar Interactive. This letter is to express my concerns about the licensing of software engineers and its implications on software development businesses such as my own. To begin, I will start by a little synopsis of my background and to extent what I do and then proceed on about my concerns.
BACKGROUND
My education and experience in this field in question traces back to 1986/1987."
so here's another example of balkins trying to design without a license. he's a true libertarian, paving the way for inexperienced clowns to design a better world without government intrusion.
In 1986 Richard was 4 and 5 years old.
He has previously claimed that he had light years more experience than any typical-college-student-aged person could have in both software engineering and building design, by virtue of the fact that the college students could not enter into professional contracts until so much more recently. And yet he's claiming to have professional experience as a software engineer dating to 1986. It's just more of those laws with which he's obsessed working one way for him and differently for the rest of the world.
Oh come on...Balkins is not the spokesman for unlicensed people...that's equally as absurd as comparing all unlicensed people to Maya Lin and FLW...Balkins is an extreme case of stupid, and his inability to get real projects is a huge testament to the regulating power of a free market. Also, software engineers are not licensed in most states!
another quote with regards to the theater from balkins,
" architects and building designers (licensed and non-licensed) has a professional degree of expectation to identify and know what is going to be safe and what is not. We would know this because of our education and experience."
so, balkins, you didn't know what was going to be safe and what was not. and you knew full well what would happen.
"I could be sued for negligence, tort, contraction or any other legal action for my services. That law is ORS 12.135 (OREGON REVISED STATUTES)"
what's scary is a found these quotes from the following news article, "Rogue Architect Sentenced in Death of L.A. Firefighter; AIA|LA Responds"
balkins, it seems that you are completely aware of the consequences of your actions. you're going to have a hard time defending yourself to the OBAE and anyone else who holds you accountable for the theater (which you didn't design to begin with).
Has Balkin's house been raided by the CIAiA yet?
I've forgotten more, in my time in this field, than Richard has learned.
bench,
the deputy fire marshall conducted an inspection 3 weeks ago. he has not written the report. the local fire chief, ted ames, did in fact say that deficiencies were found. since the report has not been written yet details will only be revealed to authorized agents of the owner or the owners of the property.
it can be put to rest that indeed the HSW is being addressed in this building.
any word from the OBAE yet?
Did you talk to him, today? or when did you talk to him?
Day and time frame would be good.
balkins is a racist!
Balkins would make a great Trump running mate
Balkins is going to be like "THE PLAN EXAMINER WAS A MEXICAN, I'M BUILDING A WALL, HE'S A MEXICAN, I'M BUILDING A WALL, I'M BUILDING A WALL, JAKE, I'M BUILDING A WALL"
null that was a hilarious interview.
non, the dumpster fire is over at Job Titles.
OMG...LOL....
Someone sent me a personal message telling me not to respond to this thread anymore because he was tried of it. ....If you don't like my responses then don't read them you don't own me and you don't tell me what to do so you should check yourself and if you want to personally send me an email don't send me a messages-noreply@archinect.com where I can't talk to you. I spoke to the archinect staff about it so I know it isn't a staff member.
Look in your email at the Reply to: or click reply and you should see the actual email address. Of course you don't have to send the reply. It is that simple. This is how Archinect private message system works. The person who sent the email to you is already in the email header information.
I know how to find someone's email thru the messaging for Christ sake. I was not confused about that I am offended that some one is trying to tell how to run my life who wouldn't get offended by such an email. If it is you Richard who is emailing me (that is still unclear to me, who it is) you don't have to hide behind a non reply message system just send it using your regular email because it does not show it on my personal email. Anyways I have no problem with you and I hope to maybe go in a similar direction, becoming a building designer is a must for me while I continue on my journey to achieving architect status. I'm am also studying interior decorating and I am becoming quite the architectural visualization artist.
MyDream,
It's the ONLY mechanism I have to contact you on this forum. It doesn't tell me your damn email. Try sending a message for once and you know how this works. It always works this way. Unless you give your email out in a message on the forum, it is not possible to send an email to you without using this Contact mechanism. It is how the system works.
O I got confused because there is a email at the bottom of the thing once you click the contact button, which was my email....oops. I actually thought that you can get the persons email from the contact and I guess I was wrong. That still does not give you the right to tell me what to respond to or how. If you are embarrassed about the post you can delete the post if it will make you feel any better.
haha. richard did you get in trouble?
He can't delete his posts unless he deletes his account. He said earlier in this thread that he was going to do just that, but as usual he's all talk ad nauseum, and no action ever.
He can too delete the post without deleting his account by emailing a staff member and they will delete the post for him. I know this because I once had a post that I was not to proud of and I had it deleted by asking a staff member to help me out. Ask them and they should be glad to point you to the right person because there are a few of them who do certain things I forgot which one it was who helped me because it was a long time ago.
Ah, there are still some warm ambers here. Good, need a little heat for this cold night.
MyDream,
Maaaaaaybe..... maybe they don't. I could request the deletion of the thread which might be in the best interest of all parties, right? They have to be willing to do that.
Olaf,
No.
I'm not sure that's in the best interest of all parties. It's in your best interest for it to be deleted, yes. But what about those who may find this thread while they are considering hiring an unlicensed "building designer"? What about those wondering whether AIBD membership is some legitimate mark of knowledge or professionalism? What about people considering hiring you specifically? I think all of those people have a right to find this thread and understand the risks. Let them see you claiming that UL doesn't publish tested assemblies, let them see you not know whether you have smoke vents on the building you designed because you don't know what one looks like. Let them see you make one arithmetic mistake after another. Let them see that you don't know how to use a measuring tape. Let them see you repeatedly rationalize danger to thousands of people. It's a valuable thread.
5839,
In 2007/2008, UL listings were not published online. I didn't have the UL books because it would cost several grand and the library doesn't much of anything useful to architects or designers. C.M.U. already has a 2-hr prescriptive rating. Doors and Assemblies would have a UL label / rating.
In addition, when I am replying upwards to about 50-60 or so posts from 15-20 individuals in two to three hours, there isn't a lot of time to read through and reply to every single one of them.
Try answering to 15-30 lawyers cross examining you one after the other. You know.... in court, you don't face that many lawyers questioning you at once.
You got maybe 2 to 4 lawyers. Usually one at a time and switches over, not 50-60 badgering you.
In addition, most of the areas at fault were areas being performed by engineers contracted by the client or contractor and other issues that were the result of the client and/or contractor after the fact over the course of operations. Architects don't have a perpetual duty to babysit and watchdog the client for the next 10-20 years. Nor do any of us designers.
PS: When the hell have I ever saw the drawings from any of the engineers the client commissioned during the project? Not a single time because the client nor the contractor involved me.
If you have a complaint about the mechanical exhaust systems and fire sprinklers, take it up with the engineers responsible for the preparation of those drawings. The electrical was prepared by an electrical contractor with master electrician status. If you have a problem with that, take it up with the electrical contractor.
Yes, 50 gallon sacks full of shit, piss and vinegar and totally fresh out of chlorine.
Welp, its back, might as well ask no_form for an update if there is one?
rick, don't talk about yourself like that. that all may be true? but be positive about it. (50 gallon sacks full of shit... )
Here's some fuel for this fire...no firm I have worked for has ever payed for the UL catalogs. They are given away by vendors, spec writers, and companies that rep multiple product lines. Also, previous to some point in this thread you had no clue UL designs existed let alone the published books or online design tool.
I've always used online UL directories and am fairly confident these were available prior to 2007/2008
I was thinking the same thing. Pretty sure I was using some sort of the UL design tool in mid 2006.
$-ware
This costs money Rick? That is news to me.
http://database.ul.com/cgi-bin/XYV/template/LISEXT/1FRAME/showpage.html?name=BXUV.GuideInfo&ccnshorttitle=Fire+Resistance+Ratings+-+ANSI/UL+263&objid=1074327030&cfgid=1073741824&version=versionless&parent_id=1073984818&sequence=1
Josh,
Do you think I am going to spend $2000+ on some piece of shit software on a 10 cent piece of plastic and very thin aluminum film coating) or on a bunch of books on a pro bono project for non-profit client. Really?
Where am I going to make the ROI ?
Rick - the damn books are free online for use at the link I posted.
Are you really that dense?
Josh,
Alright. Ask yourself, if the minimum requirement for a stage sq.ft. to not need to include that of the back stage is a 1-hour rated FIRE PARTITION let alone a fire barrier or a FIRE WALL.
It is an existing building with the remodel work to meet the requirements of Section 3412.
D-flection....nice try Ricky but stupid is as stupid does.
.
Fuck this argument crap. It is just going to go in circles because that is what you guys are going to do anyway. Since none of you are the building official so go fuck off.
It's been explained to you many times in this thread that you can't treat it as renovation of an existing building, because YOU CHANGED THE USE. Is that big and slow enough that maybe it will sink in this time? When you change the use of an existing building, codes apply as they would to a new building.
You don't have a valid fire separation if you don't either have a compliant parapet or continuous fire ratings - which you don't, because you've got exposed combustible ceiling/roof deck. There is effectively no separation, so the whole area counts as one, and puts you way over the area requirements.
As for UL books, they've been online at least as far back as 2002, maybe further, and you claimed right in this thread that "they don't publish that information". You didn't know the books existed. Even if you had known, cost wouldn't be a valid excuse. You don't get to design non-compliant buildings and say it's ok because you couldn't afford the resources you would have needed to design to code.
See how valuable this thread is? You've added that lesson to why not to try to cut corners by hiring a penniless "building designer".
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