MISGUIDED GUIDE SPECS What Specifiers Want and Need

Transcription

1 MISGUIDED GUIDE SPECS What Specifiers Want and Need

2 About the Presentation (my responsibilities) The success of this presentation depends on YOU!! I have been to a number of presentations where the presenter read his entire presentation word for word from his PowerPoint presentation and I left thinking That is an hour of my life I will never get back! I do not want to you to think that as you are walking out of the door from this presentation! I have tried to structure this presentation to allow interaction so you do not think this as you are walking out the door! How do we do this???

3 About the Presentation (your responsibilities) Get involved! Ask questions when the point is being discussed. There are no such things as interruptions in my opinion. Call me out if you disagree with something I said! Talk about what I had to say today! with your boss, with your colleagues, with other Specifiers with your technical support and marketing departments above all else!!

4 Share the Experience Right now Who in this room uses Twitter? In my opinion, this is one of the most powerful and effect ways of sharing information instantly with fellow AEC industry participants! Last year at CSI s annual convention CONSTRUCT, delegates broke the TWO MILLION Tweet threshold for conference-related messages how is that for Communicate Educate Collaborate??? So what do I want you to do?...

5 Share the Experience Misguided Guide Specs Turn your phone back on! Turn your phone to vibrate or silent! Sign in to Twitter Tweet what you hear and think is important to pass along! (I will NOT think you re rude I do it all the time!) But remember, in the event of an emergency Exit the building BEFORE you Tweet about it!! Use Conference hashtag #Kit14 Use Session hashtag #8A i.e. #Kit14 #8A Manufacturers should I will create a permanent record of Tweets after Conference for reference

6 OBJECTIVES Identify the ten most common mistakes in manufacturer guide specifications. Understand the reasons why the common mistakes do not help the Specifier. Identify sources of information to assist in the development of manufacturer guide specifications.

7 Who s Here? Product Sales Representative? Product Technical Representative? Specifiers? Others?

8 Specifications and the Contract Documents Misguided Guide Specs Mr. Carpenter C/S A Owner Contractor Agreement C/S A Mr. Mason Mr. Owner Mr. Contractor C/S A C/S A Mr. Plumber Project Manual Drawings Ms. Electrician

9 Who Uses Manufacturer s Guide Specs Spec Preparers non-specifiers Project Architect/Manager, Intern Architects, Architectural Technologists, Administrative Support personnel. Firms without a dedicated Specifier. May or may not have the experience to know what is correct or incorrect. Likely to use manufacturer s guide specifications without editing them. Firm remains liable for their work regardless of quality. Misguided Guide Specs

10 Who Uses Manufacturer s Guide Specs Professional Specifiers Those who specify every day. Reference manufacturer`s guide specs to supplement their existing office masters. Mine information from manufacturer`s guide specifications when developing new office master Sections. Would never use manufacturer s guide specifications without editing them. Generally ignore them. Misguided Guide Specs

11 From an Experienced Specifier I generally consider manufacturer s guide specs typically as totally worthless Seems pretty harsh doesn t it??? Misguided Guide Specs

12 Paul s TOP 10 Problems with Manufacturer s Guide Specifications

13 About the Content This presentation uses actual examples from manufacturer guide specifications available on the internet. It took less than 4 hours total time to find all these examples (and more) Where manufacturer or product names are shown, they have been blacked out to protect the guilty

14 What s Wrong with the Following Pictures This is YOUR chance to get involved as previously mentioned Although I deal with chaos every day, not everyone here does; please raise your hand when you spot the issue. First hand up will have the opportunity to answer. Presenter reserves the right to choose who answers (or pick people from random if everyone sits like a bump on a log except one or two people). Misguided Guide Specs

15 10 Not Following CSC/CSI Standards for Section and Page Formatting

16 What is Wrong with This Picture? Misguided Guide Specs

17 Specification Format Marketing influenced format

18 Specification Format Solution: Use CSC / CSI SectionFormat / PageFormat document for proper (industry-accepted) information ordering and page formatting recommendations

19 Specification Format Article Order Do these look the same? Misguided Guide Specs

20 Specification Format Page Layout How about this?? Misguided Guide Specs

21 Specification Format Page Layout Remember: CSC vs. CSI Format Differences Misguided Guide Specs

22 9 Not Following CSC/CSI Standards for Section Numbering and Titling

23 What is Wrong with This Picture? Misguided Guide Specs

24 Section Numbering and Titling Not only is the title incorrect for MasterFormat 1995, the number only has 4 digits Misguided Guide Specs

25 Section Numbering and Titling Well at least this example has 5 digits in the Section Number! Whew! Try to fit that Section title in one (maybe 2) lines in the header! Misguided Guide Specs

26 Section Numbering and Titling Solution: Use CSC / CSI MasterFormat document for proper (industry-accepted) numbers and titles for Sections (Presenter s Note: Please reference date on image) Misguided Guide Specs

27 Section Numbering and Titling CSC / CSI MasterFormat recently changed the numbering and titling for Specifications from 5 digits (07500) to 6 digits ( ) in 2004!! (Presenter s Note: Please forgive my overzealous use of sarcasm in the above statement) Misguided Guide Specs

28 8 Not Following CSC Standards for Specification Language

29 Specification Language Three different styles within one section, within one Part, and within three consecutive paragraphs

30 Specification Language Use of non mandatory language Overuse of indicative mood style

31 Specification Language Solution: Use CSC Manual of Practice document and/or take the PCD and Specifier 1 courses for proper (industryaccepted) information on specification language recommendations Proper writing style Vocabulary usage Proper sentence structure Use of symbols, abbreviations, numbers, and capitalization Correct grammar and punctuation

32 7 Including Nonsensical Provisions or Inappropriate Content

33 Nonsensical Provisions Manufacturer trying to set contracting requirements

34 Nonsensical Provisions Manufacturer trying to set biddings requirements

35 Nonsensical Provisions These are design issues NOT specification issues they would be better suited for SPEC NOTES to assist Specifier

36 Nonsensical Provisions From a roofing system specification: And why is this so important to include in your guide specification? again this would be better suited for SPEC NOTES to assist Specifier

37 Nonsensical Provisions From an exterior wall cladding system specification: Really?!?! I would never have guessed!

38 6 Improper Use of References Article or use of Outdated References

39 Improper Use of Reference Articles Misguided Guide Specs A reference list in Part 1 Article References does not mean that there must be compliance with the reference by the Products specified. Must specify HOW the Product meets the requirements of the standard listed. Only references included in the text of the Section should be listed in the Article

40 Improper Use of Reference Articles Misguided Guide Specs This specification had 9 other references not even listed What version of the Standard do you comply with? 98, 00, 05, 07, 08, 11 or 12 These aren t used in the spec

41 5 Not Including SPEC NOTES to assist the Specifier

42 SPEC NOTES Even with standard, everyday Sections like hollow metal doors if you stop and think about it there are dozens of decisions to be made. Consider how many are needed for a complicated Section. A little secret Specifiers do NOT know EVERYTHING about EVERY Product available. I know shocking! If there are critical items that need to be addressed or choices that need to be made give us some background to make the correct decision! Or identify choices relate to other options.

43 SPEC NOTES Sample SPEC NOTE

44 SPEC NOTES Using a different color helps to distinguish the editing notes from the section text

45 4 Over-Specifying Product Characteristics

46 What is Wrong with This Picture? Misguided Guide Specs

47 Over-Specifying Product Characteristics means it has already met the minimum requirements through these. Compliance with this

48 3 Product Specifications That Are Covertly Proprietary

49 Semi-Proprietary Spec Misguided Guide Specs

50 What is Wrong with This Picture? Misguided Guide Specs

51 Proprietary Spec?? Misguided Guide Specs Characteristics are so specific that only one product would likely meet the spec.

52 2 Over- or Under-Utilizing Part 3 Requirements

53 Under-Utilizing Part 3 Misguided Guide Specs From a storefront framing specification:

54 What is Wrong with This Picture? Misguided Guide Specs

55 Over-Utilizing Part 3 Misguided Guide Specs The specification includes stepby step installation requirements for the specific product and establishes means and methods

56 1 Providing Your Guide Spec Only in PDF Format and Not Knowing How to Effectively Use Microsoft Word

57 Document Format Portable Document Format (PDF) Format designed to provide a static record of a particular instance in time. Difficult to edit without a PDF editor Copying and pasting into a word processor requires additional editing How many of you use Adobe Acrobat as your tool of choice when writing a letter? How many Specifiers do you know who use it to edit their Specs?

58 Document Format Guide Spec in PDF Format

59 Document Format As pasted into a Word Document

60 Document Format Word Processing Formats Microsoft Word (.doc,.docx) Rich Text Format (.rtf) Apache OpenOffice (.odt) Corel WordPerfect (.wpd)

61 Microsoft Word Faux-Pas Microsoft Word is not a typewriter seems OK at first glance

62 Microsoft Word Faux-Pas Microsoft Word is not a typewriter closer look not so OK!

63 Microsoft Word - Must Know What are Styles and how do they work How to use Auto-Numbering How to tie Styles to Auto-Numbering How to set Tabs to avoid use of mutliple tab stops to get to where you want text to begin.

64 Solutions Use an experienced specifier. or Follow the suggestions below: 1. Obtain a copy of CSC s Manual of Practice and follow the guidelines for specification writing. 2. Follow CSC/CSI s SectionFormat, PageFormat, and MasterFormat.

65 Solutions 3. Write the specification from this point of view: What is the minimum information the contractor needs to know to obtain, prepare for, and install my product? 4. Review (but not copy) sections prepared by master guide specifications companies as examples. 5. Include notes to help the Specifier or designer edit the specification.

66 Solutions 6. Keep the guide specification open for competition, or identify in comments what needs to be changed to make it a competitive specification or even better; list who you consider to be your true competition. 7. Use standards or other references that are current or used in the building code. Review specification on a regular basis.

67 Solutions 8. Provide the guide specification in several document formats. 9. Make the specification a technical document not a marketing document. 10. Ask a Specifier to review your Guide Spec after you finish but BEFORE you publish it! How many here offer to review office master Sections? Why not let the Specifier return the favour?

68 THANK YOU!! For attending For participating (hopefully) For providing input or sharing your thoughts For offering the great support so many of provide on a day-to-day basis in order to help make our (Specifiers) lives easier and support us in what we do! We are CSC!!

69 Questions? Contact Information: Paul Gerber DIALOG Phone: (647) Website: