Review a responsibility matrix by giving every row one furnishing party and one installing party, then finding the same item on the schedules, key notes, general notes and vendor sheets and checking that they name the same parties. Flag each item with two buyers or none, every owner-furnished item whose rough-in no one is assigned to install, and every row for an item the drawings no longer show.
What the matrix labels mean
Most matrices use four combinations. OFOI (owner furnished, owner installed) items are bought and installed by the owner or the owner’s vendor. OFCI (owner furnished, contractor installed) items are bought by the owner and installed by the contractor. CFCI (contractor furnished, contractor installed) items sit entirely in the contractor’s price. CFOI (contractor furnished, owner installed) is rarer. Landlord work, utility work and “not in contract” items are usually separate columns. The labels and columns vary by owner, so read the matrix’s own legend first.
The matrix is one sheet, but the same items appear on many others: the kitchen equipment schedule, the lighting fixture schedule, the finish schedule, mechanical and electrical key notes, and general notes such as “contractor to furnish and install all fixtures unless noted otherwise.” Each of those is a second answer to the same question.
Twelve questions to run against the matrix
Work through the matrix row by row and find every sheet that shows the item. The CSV has columns for the location, the source references, the reviewer, the status, the decision and the closure evidence.
| Review area | Open these sources together | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Matrix identity and issue | Responsibility matrix sheets, drawing list, specification Division 01, landlord criteria | Which responsibility matrix governs (architect, owner standard, landlord exhibit), and is the copy in the set the current one? |
| Every matrix row has one furnisher and one installer | Responsibility matrix, owner-furnished equipment list, Division 01 product requirements | Does each row name exactly one furnishing party and one installing party, with no blank, double-marked or “N/A” row for an item the drawings show? |
| Matrix against the drawings that show the item | Responsibility matrix, equipment, fixture and finish schedules, key notes, general notes | For each row, do the schedule notes and key notes on the discipline sheets assign the same party, or does a note such as “furnished and installed by contractor unless noted” contradict the matrix? |
| Long-lead and vendor packages | Matrix, vendor package sheets (kitchen hoods, refrigeration, signage, AV), mechanical and electrical schedules | Is each long-lead package bought by one party, and do the trade sheets repeat that party rather than naming a different supplier? |
| Owner-furnished items need contractor rough-in | Matrix, equipment schedules, power and plumbing plans, structural support details | For every owner-furnished, contractor-installed item, are its power, water, waste, gas, data and support drawn and assigned to the contractor? |
| Utility and landlord-provided items | Matrix, landlord criteria and comments, electrical one-line and panel schedules, utility plans | Do landlord-provided or utility items (transformers, meters, fire alarm, roof access) appear as landlord work in the matrix and as existing or by-others on the trade sheets? |
| Finishes and specialties chosen by the owner | Matrix, finish schedule, material legend, specialties schedules (partitions, accessories, signage) | Do the matrix and finish schedule agree on who buys owner-selected finishes and specialties, and do they name the same product and finish? |
| Lighting, controls and low-voltage | Matrix, architectural lighting schedule, electrical fixture schedule and notes, low-voltage sheets | Do the architectural and electrical schedules give the fixtures, lamps, controls and low-voltage devices to the same party? |
| Items in the matrix but not in the project | Matrix, plans and elevations, owner program | Does the matrix list items the drawings no longer show (patio heaters, misters, shade structures, kiosks), and should those rows be deleted or marked not in contract? |
| Specification sections for contractor-furnished items | Matrix, specification table of contents, Division 01 references | Does every contractor-furnished system have a specification section, or a stated document that governs it, rather than a reference to a section that is not issued? |
| Deferred and vendor-engineered submittals | Matrix, cover sheet deferred submittal list, structural general notes, specification submittal articles | Do the cover sheet, structural notes and matrix list the same vendor-engineered items, and who prepares each one? |
| Revisions after the matrix was issued | Revision clouds and deltas, revised schedules, the matrix revision block | When a schedule was revised, was the matrix revised with it, and does each change keep one furnisher and one installer? |
Mark a row not applicable only after recording why. An item that is owner furnished still needs a contractor-installed connection, support or rough-in in most cases.
Where the matrix and the trade sheets part ways
In the restaurant and retail fit-out scope review, the issued-for-construction set named three different buyers for the kitchen hoods, exhaust fans and make-up air units: the matrix gave them to the owner’s vendor, the mechanical sheets to the mechanical contractor, and the foodservice sheets split them between the kitchen supplier and the HVAC contractor. The matrix gave the transformer to the landlord while the electrical sheets drew a new tenant transformer, and the architectural sheets gave every light fixture to the owner’s vendor while the electrical schedule note made the contractor furnish and install them. The grease duct was welded field duct in the matrix and factory-built duct on the mechanical sheets.
The pattern recurs in bid sets. In the kennel facility bid set review, one list made two appliances contractor furnished while the key notes made them owner furnished, and in the elementary school electrical bid scope review, the fire alarm specification gave the sprinkler flow and tamper switches to two trades. Each conflict means an item can be priced twice or left out of every bid.
Owner-furnished items still need contractor work
An OFCI item is only half bought. Its power, water, waste, gas, data, blocking, structural support and seismic anchorage are usually contractor work, and they are easy to miss when the item itself is someone else’s purchase. For each owner-furnished row, find the circuit, the plumbing connection and the support on the trade sheets, and check that the connection matches the item the owner is ordering. In the fit-out review, a convection oven on the kitchen schedule had a single-phase plug while the panel schedule fed it from a three-phase locking receptacle, and a coffee brewer was hardwired on one schedule and plug-connected on another.
Use the commercial kitchen drawing review checklist and the equipment schedule coordination checklist for the connections themselves.
Settle the matrix before purchasing
Send the conflicts to the owner and the architect as one list, item by item, and ask for one furnishing party and one installing party for each. Then have the consultants revise their schedules and notes to match, and reissue the matrix with a revision mark. Long-lead items, such as kitchen hood packages, transformers, storefront and owner-selected finishes, come first. Before bids, the pre-GMP document review checklist and the tender drawings guide cover the rest of the package.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook reads the responsibility matrix, the schedules, the key notes and the specifications you upload together and returns potential conflicts with links to each source, such as an item the matrix gives to the owner’s vendor while an electrical note gives it to the contractor. It does not decide who should buy an item or price the scope. Each finding is a question for the owner, the architect and the contractor to settle. See pre-bid review for the workflow.