professional relationships

For most watershape projects of above-average complexity, the clients - whether they are developers, architects, landscape architects or property owners - must choose how to execute their vision by deciding who they'll bring in to do the actual work with the water. In my 23 years in the watershaping trades (in service and maintenance, as an installer, with an equipment manufacturer and as a consultant), I've observed dramatically varied levels of expertise on the provider side of that equation.  These days, in my work for EDAW, a national landscape architecture firm, I'm now on the specifier side of the equation and, in an interesting reversal, very often find myself explaining to designers in my own company what their options are for getting a watershape designed and built.   In my lengthening career, I've seen the sets of strengths, backgrounds, abilities and limitations each category of service provider brings to the table - and seen clearly that an understanding of how all the pieces fit together is useful for everyone involved,  from the property owner and specifier to the consultants, suppliers, contractors and subcontractors who get the job done.   To build that understanding, let's pull apart the process of setting up a high-end watershape from start to finish and see how various roles intersect and interrelate.  We'll focus on large commercial projects for purposes of illustration, but the fact is that the same principles apply just as well (if less formally) to sophisticated