10/01/2026
Two Hats. One Question. Still No Answer.
One of the stranger parts of serving on a volunteer board is bringing professional experience to the table—only to discover that some people would prefer you leave it in the parking lot.
I’m not the architect, engineer or construction manager, and I understand that boundary. But after more than 30 years in business and design, I also recognize when a question needs to be asked.
Are the as-built drawings complete? What was changed later and never documented? What is hiding behind the walls or beneath the slab? And is the contingency based on the project’s actual risks—or simply a reassuring number sitting in a spreadsheet?
Sometimes the room becomes more interested in whether the designer or the board member is speaking than in answering the question.
Then demolition begins.
A wall opens. A pipe appears where no pipe was shown. Something was rerouted, something else capped, and the perfectly respectable contingency begins to sweat.
The building does not care which hat raised the concern. It simply reveals the condition—and eventually presents the bill.
Professional experience doesn’t make a board member clairvoyant. It does help identify where uncertainty lives. My job isn’t to supply the architect’s or engineer’s answer. It is to notice when the question still hasn’t been answered.
Have you ever brought useful experience to a volunteer board, only to find everyone discussing your role instead of the risk you identified?
