Tips To Be More Efficient When Writing Specs in Construction
If you’ve become accustomed to reading and editing lengthy construction specs for projects, you’re probably a seasoned design professional with years of experience. The length of your specifications usually encompasses years of lessons learned, fixes from job site visits that went wrong, and updates that help to create the office master into a work of art.
Eventually, you’ll see that maintaining all the knowledge and repetitive editing of the office master has become a burden. Design professionals often complain about how long it takes to edit the office masters. Emerging design professionals question whether a 35-page specification section on paint is necessary.
The problem lies in our preconceived ideas of what specifications in construction need to be. We’ve questioned why specifications have grown so wordy and agree with emerging design professionals that something must change.
First, let’s explore some of the reasoning behind the long-form legacy construction specs we still use today.
Rethinking the construction in specs
In the early days, the Construction Specifications Institute 3 part specifications included a list of reference standards and related sections in Part 1 – General.
But why would you specify a list of reference standards and titles when you can quickly look up the tiles and requirements online. This was a good idea in the 1970s when the information was only available in costly book subscriptions, but the internet has made standards easily accessible.
Related sections can be found in the project’s table of contents. Storage and handling requirements are found in Division 01. The traditional section includes, well, that in the title of the specification, and we don’t need to repeat it. These are all things we call legacy or traditional requirements that have been passed on through the years.
Another legacy requirement that can be consolidated is listing sustainability credits within each specification section. Sustainable design requirements are now relocated to Division 01, so why do we continue to see it specified in each specification? Specifications in construction need to adapt to the change, not continue the tradition.
Being clearer and more concise
First is the mistaken belief that specifications must be lengthy and legal-sounding to be enforceable. How often have you seen the wording “Contractor shall strictly follow the installation instructions, meet warranty requirements, and follow job site conditions.” Did all the words help make it more enforceable? No, quite the opposite is true. Let’s look at a simple example.
The ultimate roofing warranty would look like this; “Roofing: Watertight.” Add anything to this statement, and you detract from it. For 20 years? You had it for eternity. – Wayne Watson.
This may be influenced by the fear of being sued and the belief that quality specifications require more words. Having shorter, quickly understood specifications makes us less likely to be involved in litigation. Why? Because contractors will realize what to estimate, their expectations, and how to install the product correctly. Leading to less litigation.
Second is the mistaken belief that having lots of words protects us from a contractor making mistakes. You can read almost any project specification and tell every time the design professional encounters a bad contractor. To protect themselves, a new requirement is added; I call these statements “gotchas.” There is no way to include enough words to protect yourself from a bad contractor; they will always find something to challenge.
The third is our desire to be in control of the project. As a result, we specify construction means and methods instead of just including simple, enforceable statements. Don’t tell contractors how to do their job; tell them about your expectations for the final product. The manufacturer knows what “gotchas” to insert into their installation instructions.
Incorporating a modern approach
It is way past time for a shift in our thinking. Anyone that’s written construction specs has thought long and hard about making the process more efficient. That thinking turned into the SimpleSpecs™ Master Guide Specifications System for my office.
With SimpleSpecs 3-part specifications, we’ve followed the 4 C’s (clear, concise, complete, and correct) approach into 3-part specification sections covering everything that affects the cost and overall quality and nothing more. By defining product parameters, installations are covered by referencing the manufacturer’s installation instructions, an industry standard, or the applicable building code.
In developed markets like the United States and Canada, nearly all construction product manufacturers are vested in ensuring their materials are correctly installed. Installation instructions, checklists, complete installation manuals, videos, and certified installer programs are standard. There is no need to become overly wordy on installation requirements. Don’t worry; you’ll get plenty of information during submittals.
In SimpleSpecs™, a copy of manufacturer instructions must be onsite during construction and utilize certified installer programs when available. Use reference standards to shorten the specifications, both for products and installation.
Streamlining the way we specify products
We spend way too much time specifying a particular product in great detail. The more physical properties we include in the specification, the more we believe the product will be used. During construction, the contractor submits a substitution, and the Owner approves the proposed development.
When a particular product is specified in too much detail, it makes future spec updates more challenging from project to project.
In SimpleSpecs™, we’ve specified products by listings “approved manufacturers.” If the Owner wants a specific manufacturer, modify the list of manufacturers. If your team wants a different manufacturer for the next project, simply change the list of manufacturers. This allows you to focus on the product or assembly requirements, not excessive details about one particular product.
For assemblies or products that are very particular, SimpleSpecs™ includes manufacturer-specific sections to save you time.
How to connect BIM and construction specs?
Incorporating simple, shorter construction specs into a BIM model will be easy; using a legacy long 15+ page specification section on the painting will be difficult.
Use SimpleSpecs master specs templates on a few projects, and I guarantee you will spend far less time writing the specification and have fewer issues to resolve in the field. – Craig K. Haney, F
Get full access for your entire office, and you’ll start writing specifications 5x faster using our cloud-based editing platform.
