It’s vague. It’s everywhere. And somehow… it always ends up being your problem. 

In this Hold for Clarification minisode, we unpack the deceptively simple phrase “by others”. It’s the ultimate scope escape hatch that turns responsibility into a guessing game. From missing anchors to design components no one carried, we dig into how two words can create massive gaps in coordination, pricing, and accountability. 

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Show Notes 

The phrase assumes: 

• Everyone knows who “others” are 

• Scope is clearly defined somewhere else 

• Someone else is definitely handling it 

In practice, it becomes: 

• A scope dodgeball match 

• A coordination black hole 

• That one detail no one picked up 

Takeaways: 

• Name the responsible party 

• Provide design criteria (loads, performance, etc) 

• Cross-reference drawings and specifications 

• If it matters, don’t leave it to “others” 

“’By others’ is just the grown-up version of ‘not it’”  

This episode is part of our Hold for Clarification series – short dives into the phrases that sound helpful but create chaos in construction documents.