2.3.3 Correspondence Distribution

All correspondence must follow up with any procedure that may be described in the respective contract Working Procedure or as established in the precon-struction or initial job meeting. These instructions will incorporate the addressee along with routine distribution.
Whether or not instructed to do so officially, other distribution of your correspondence is routinely necessary. This includes:

1. The architect. Copies of all correspondence to the owner, any outside agency, other design professionals, or any other entity involved with the design or the construction of the project must be sent to the designer of record. This is not just good courtesy, but is necessary to ensure that the requirements for timely notice of all parties has been met.
2. The owner representative. Copies of all correspondence to the architect, engineers, other design professionals, outside agencies, and any other entity having anything to do with the private design, function, permits, and any other issues that are not otherwise considered to be privileged communications must be sent to the owner’s representative. Each individual must be made aware of every issue on a current basis, and each must be made aware that the other has been so put on notice.
3. Each person definitely or potentially involved with the issue. If, for example, you are requesting an owner interpretation of the specification potentially involving the steel and masonry subcontractors, those individuals and companies must be copied in your correspondence. If you document any action or statement by any individual in any company, that person must be put on distribution. This is not only good business practice, but also serves as an important notification function. Beyond that, it gives a healthy amount of legitimacy to your statement by showing to the world immediately that you’re not afraid of holding your remarks up to the light. If you’re putting words in a person’s mouth, you’re not afraid of that person seeing exactly that you know what has been said.
4. File instruction. The writer of the letter—not the administrative assistant or file clerk—knows all files potentially affected by the issue and the particular document. At the time that the letter is written, decide all files that must receive a copy and indicate such in the final file designation. For example, include a “cc: File: x, y, z” where x, y, and z are specific file folders. In this way anyone can be given the filing task without the risk of misfiling.