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You just have to read them.
In the profession of architecture, we can never learn everything we need to know by being taught by someone – a professor in school, a boss, a colleague.
So much of what we learn, we have to learn through experience. If you can’t make heads or tails of your specs on one project, don’t give up forever – read and try to understand them on your next project.
Then, read the specs that your spec writer produces when you issue progress CD sets. These will be 3-part specifications.
If Part 1 is confusing, skip it. Read Parts 2 and 3.
Then come back to Part 1 when you’re comfortable with 2 and 3.
If Parts 2 and 3 aren’t making sense to you, ask your spec writer about it. You may have a coordination problem or something.
Part 1, General, contains the administrative and procedural requirements that are specific to that section. (Remember, Division 01 contains administrative and procedural requirements that apply to all the technical spec sections.)
Part 2 is products.
Part 3 is installation or execution.
Don’t get paralyzed by the stuff you don’t understand. Skim over it, and get to the stuff you do understand, and read that carefully. You’ll be on your way to understanding specs better!
Don’t bother reading random specs, though.
Read the specs that your spec writer produces when you first issue specs on your project. Those may be an easy outline spec – it’s just one part, instead of the longer 3-part format used at CD’s.
What is the Project Manual?
Divisions 01 through 49 plus Division 00 (the Procurement Requirements, such as Instructions to Bidders and Bid Form, and the Contracting Requirements, such as the Agreement, Bond Forms, General Conditions, Supplementary Conditions) make up the Project Manual.
Division 01 is where all your protections are – everything that tells the contractor how to do the things he needs to do, such as procedures for submittals.
These specifications for procedures protect your time (and therefore your firm’s profit), because they tell the contractor how to do things in such a way that your review will be most efficient.
Who is in charge?
Have you ever indicated a certain product in the documents, and ended up having to review a substitution request for something else, that the contractor says will save the owner money?
Have you ever reviewed a submittal that didn't even have enough information for you to determine if the contractor is proposing to use the correct product?
What determines the process for this?
There are few bigger time-sucks than this.
If you know what the specs say, you may be more respected by the contractor and the guys in the field.
If your specifications are good, and you and the contractor both know what they say, the specs can be a foundation for mutual trust and respect, between architect and contractor.
What determines the process for this? What determines your obligations?
It’s best if you,
the design professional doing construction contract administration,
know what’s in the technical sections,
so that as stuff goes up in the field,
you know what to expect,
you know when something’s not quite right,
or you know enough about it to be able to ask an intelligent, informed question, to figure out what’s going on.
What determines what these are?
Think about it - if you are doing CA, you are administering the contract for construction.
The project manual (specs), along with the owner-contractor agreement, and the drawings,
are the contract that you’re administering during construction contract administration!
Why are specs important to the architect?
Gotten something you didn't expect, already installed, in the field?
Argued with the contractor about a submittal?
Spent more time reviewing shop drawings than you imagined was possible?
Been confused about a substitution request?
Had to explain to the owner that what they told you to include in the design wasn't included in the contractor's final pricing?
I have!
The more we focus on design
(the way the building is intended to look)
to the exclusion of the technical stuff
(the instructions to the contractor for achieving the design intent – the specifications and the construction details),
the more we will have to rely on the contractor to design the details.
When someone else is designing the details, we don't always get what we expect.
“...that portion of the Contract Documents consisting of the written requirements for materials, equipment, systems, standards and workmanship for the Work, and performance of related services.”
~ AIA Document A201-2017, the General Conditions of the Contract for Construction.
... just as much as something in the drawings is in the contract.
Per AIA Document A201-2017, the Contract Documents “consist of the Agreement, Conditions of the Contract (General, Supplementary and other Conditions), Drawings, Specifications, Addenda issued prior to execution of the Contract, other documents listed in the Agreement, and Modifications issued after execution of the Contract.”
AIA Document A201-2017 also says that “The intent of the Contract Documents is to include all items necessary for the proper execution and completion of the Work by the Contractor. The Contract Documents are complementary, and what is required by one shall be as binding as if required by all...”
Unless the design team intends for something to be included by the contractor in the project, it shouldn’t be in the specs (or drawings).
There shouldn't be a bunch of things in the specs “in case we need them” if we don’t actually intend for them to be in the project, because by doing that, we’ve taken the first step to our documents' not being taken seriously by the contractor.
If there is extra information in the specifications, the contractor will assume that the specifications are boilerplate specifications that are reused on all projects, and are not specific to the project, and will ignore all the specifications.
Our goal is to get a building built!
The technical sections are where the expertise of product reps can help.
I generally do not ask for help unless the rep's product is the Basis of Design.
The bidders know that if there are no ambiguities in the documents, and a sub of theirs submits a bid with all kinds of exclusions and qualifications, they can use a different sub.
If there are ambiguities in the documents, and a sub of theirs submits a bid with exclusions and qualifications and doesn’t meet the specs, they’ll just take the bid, and argue later (with the architect, not with the sub), because if they don’t take that sub, they know that their competitors will, and they will lose out on the job.
Communication!
Our specific role is interpreting the owner’s wishes for her or his building, and communicating the design intent to the contractor.
There are different ways to spec products - from closed proprietary spec with no substitutions, to open spec.
Different owners, and even the same owner on different projects, call for varying degrees of openness.
This is the owner's decision - the architect must communicate this in the specs, and enforce it during construction.
Usually, the degree of spec openness is communicated in a combination of Division 01 and the specific product spec section.
The architect should enforce the provisions of the specs and the agreement and the conditions of the contract, or else these documents won’t be taken seriously.
We have to say what we mean, and prove that we mean what we say.
The General Requirements, Division 01, are the requirements for administering and performing the work of constructing the building.
The technical specifications sections (Divisions 02 through 49) are a written description of the materials, products, and workmanship used to construct a building.
Buildings are composed of building products, all put together.
Division 01 expands upon the requirements in the Agreement and the Conditions of the Contract (General Conditions and Supplementary Conditions.)
It specifies administrative requirements, procedural requirements, temporary facilities and controls, and performance requirements.
Division 01 applies to all the technical sections in Divisions 02 through 49.
Section-specific procedural requirements are indicated in Part 1 of a spec section.
But for most procedural requirements for a product, you have to look at Division 01.
He’ll know what’s expected, and will be able to just get down to the job of building.
There will be less conflict between contractor and subs, and less conflict between contractor and architect, with good specs.
It’s most fair during bidding, it levels the bidder playing field, and produces the most accurate bids, which are going to be tighter bids (lower bids and closer-together bids).
It also makes what the owner’s buying very clear to the owner.
When the specs and the drawings are coordinated with each other, and unambiguous, understandable, and enforceable,
good specs help convey the design intent to the contractor.
The specs, and the drawings, are legally enforceable contract documents, and need to be prepared carefully, and coordinated with the drawings.
If there's no "wiggle room" in the specs for anyone – not for you (the architect) and not for the contractor - this ultimately benefits everyone.
In Denver's market, construction work is often not performed to the highest of standards, so if your intent, and the owner's desire, is for something better than the contractor-driven norm around here, the specifications are your way to communicate the expected quality of the finished product.
The specs allow the design team to communicate the best way to handle specific installations and products. The drawings communicate the required quantity, the specs indicate the required quality.
The specs complement the drawings and have some protections for you.
If every time the contractor looks at the specs, he reads something that makes sense and is coordinated with the drawings, he will continue to refer to the specs.
However, if every time the contractor looks at the specs, he reads something that doesn’t apply to the project, or does apply but isn’t coordinated with the drawings, or might apply but is in conflict with the General Conditions of the Contract, the Project Manual becomes nothing but a paperweight.
If the contractor is not looking at the specs, arguments between the contractor and architect are inevitable.
Good specs will lead to a much smoother construction contract administration process for you.
With improved communication in the form of better specs, and more coordinated documents, we’ll be on the road to improving not only the bidding and construction processes, but also the built environment.
Well-coordinated and correct contract documents minimize the potential for conflicts and the need for interpretations and modifications, so more time can be spent on getting the building built well.
Which, of course, is the goal
of the project team.
Liz O'Sullivan Architecture, LLC | Architectural Specifications
www.lizosullivanarch.com