JEarle,
Yet Fazio did a great job at Pine Valley with an in-house crew, not a crew that specialized in construction, but maintainance, and the results were outstanding.
While I would agree that there are different degrees of craftmanship, does money determine to what degree craftmanship is evidenced ? And is that not the developer's decision ?
As I indicated earlier, and Jim Janosik confirmed, the architect has to sign off on every architectual feature, so I would tend to diminish or relegate to the bottom of the totem pole, the role of the contractor relative to the evaluation of the architecture.
I would also agree with Jim Janosik that each case depends on the particular facts of each course. I would imagine that many projects reach an impass where the architect and the developer are at odds. I would imagine that both parties would plead their case, deliberate on the opposing view and come to a prudent decision, though I think the final decision rests with the guy who is paying the bills, and risking his own money, even though the architect may be risking his reputation.