Housing and Community Development

This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Residential Knowledge Community .
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I am investigating what is available in specification software for the small firm that principally does residential additions and renovation projects.  Does anyone use a specification suite that they feel is a pretty good fit for these projects?  Has anyone used the UDA Residential Specifications and have an opinion of them? How does ARCOM Masterspec's Small Projects spec fit the bill? 

As a fledgling practice, money is an issue, so I love that UDA's offerings are very affordable, but my guess is this is a classic case of you get what you pay for.  Does anyone have an alternative way to provide construction guidance to the contractor that they feel is effective (i.e. all proprietary specs, or not specs at all)?

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Garth Russo AIA
Principal
Live Oak Architecture
Dallas TX
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You might want to check out spexplus for specifications. They seem relatively robust and are updated periodically.  My previous experience with Arcom small projects is that it did not include regular updates.

http://spexplus.net/
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Kathleen Null AIA
San Antonio TX
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------------------------------------------- Gordon Rogers AIA Kitchell CEM Sacramento CA ------------------------------------------- The one I used on residential projects was a product called Minispec that was published by BNI. I paid something like $99 for it and it provided a nice platform for residential applications. I'm not sure if they still publish Minispec. I purchased it in 2002. My problem was always the level of contractor working on residential projects and their complete disregard of specs in general. They seem to respond much better to notes on the plans or the incorporation of specs onto plan sheets as general notes by discipline. After beating my head against the wall for several years, I resorted to this method quite successfully. All the best to you.
Original Message: Sent: 02-28-2011 11:11 From: Garth Russo Subject: Residential Construction Specification Software This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Small Project Practitioners and Residential Knowledge Community . ------------------------------------------- I am investigating what is available in specification software for the small firm that principally does residential additions and renovation projects. Does anyone use a specification suite that they feel is a pretty good fit for these projects? Has anyone used the UDA Residential Specifications and have an opinion of them? How does ARCOM Masterspec's Small Projects spec fit the bill? As a fledgling practice, money is an issue, so I love that UDA's offerings are very affordable, but my guess is this is a classic case of you get what you pay for. Does anyone have an alternative way to provide construction guidance to the contractor that they feel is effective (i.e. all proprietary specs, or not specs at all)? ------------------------------------------- Garth Russo AIA Principal Live Oak Architecture Dallas TX -------------------------------------------