What is wrong with this photo? Maybe there are a few things, but the thing that stands out the clearest to me is that the rain water leader is bent where it was supposed to go straight. Why? Basically, we aligned the roof to pitch to the center of the bay, we aligned the rain water leader to go down the center of the bay, and while we’re at it, we aligned the exterior light to be in the center of the bay, as well.  This is so wrong! Now, what will most likely happen is if the rain water leader gets clogged it will shoot water directly on top of the light… not to mention that the rain water leader looks stupid turning like that. It’s amazing how many things have to be coordinated for the contractor to get this detail right. I will try to name each trade that has to coordinate this detail:

• The framer has to center the scupper.
• The sheet metal guy has to install the rain water leader and flashing
• The electrician has to rough out and then finish the light
• The framer also has to install the hold downs which prevent the light from moving over
• The plumber has to hit the right place to run the water away from the building

Things just pile on top of each other, one after the other after the other. This is why it is extremely important to draw as much possible detail into your drawings as you can stand because you never know what might come back to bite you in the ass.