Overheard a project manager say 'good enough' about a fire damper install

I was on a job in Austin last week and heard a PM tell his crew that a fire damper was 'good enough' even though it was off by half an inch. That thing won't seal right in a fire, and that's how people get hurt. It made me think about how corners get cut when nobody's watching. I walked over and pointed it out, and he got all huffy but fixed it. Anybody else run into inspectors or managers who just don't care about the small stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

bennett.noah29d ago

Good enough" might as well be the unofficial motto of half the PMs I've met. Reminds me of the time I was wiring a panel and the foreman said "just zip tie it, it's fine" - I tripped over the mess fifteen minutes later and landed face first in a bucket of joint compound. That's the kind of karma you get for cutting corners on stuff like fire dampers, where a half inch gap turns into a whole room full of smoke real quick. I've learned the hard way that "good enough" usually means "good enough to fail when it matters most." At least that guy fixed it after you called him out, even if he was grumpy about it.

blake32229d ago

My last PM used the phrase good enough and the inspection actually passed first try.