Practice Management Member Conversations

I work in a decent sized firm with two offices and around 30 people in production.  A lot of our staff is young and focused on Revit.  One of my gripes (besides staff not consulting the code book) us them being in the dark about specifications.  We have a full time spec writer, and have had for some time - so usually there's no direct need to have our Job Captains or Revit staff actively engaged in writing specs.  Generally that's a good thing since you need just the right person with the right skills to do that, but it leaves most of our staff pretty much in the dark about what's in the specs, what they need to know, what they need to tell the spec writer, etc.  Some couldn't probably tell me off the top of their heads which division much less section a fixed metal ladder would be, or wood blocking.

In the interest of having everyone better rounded and more familiar with specs, we're looking for ideas on what other firms are doing to involve staff in specs - so they at least have to have SOME familiarity with them.  Lunch and Learn type meetings won't do it.  Since they're too reliant on the spec writer to handle it all, they probably won't take the initiative outside of a lunch and learn to pick up a manual and start reading a section.  We've attempted to give tests before as part of Continuing Ed. and got quite an angry response from staff (mostly out of fear - "If I fail, am I fired?").  I'm not afraid of that, but I'd rather do something that has buy-in rather than forcing something down their throats.

One idea put forth was to create assignments for staff to be responsible for continually verifying product data for different divisions - by having them call mfr's every 6 to 12 months to check on products, check the specs for accuracy, etc.  Staff would rotate from division to division on some interval.  Another could be to have them meet with the reps who come in and put together a briefing for staff on product changes and provide some education about products.  Generally though, the desire isn't to have them be the librarian, but to learn the project manual.  Another idea put forth was to give each person one or two hard copy sections from our spec template, and tell them to research it and redline it for product coordination, drawing coordination, etc., and to seek out advice from other coworkers if they have to.  I have some doubts about staff being able to do that and get them done on a reasonable time frame - and some are just too complicated.

Do other firms out there have ideas to share?

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John Thompson Assoc. AIA
Production Coordinator
Dore & Whittier Architects, Inc.
Burlington VT
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John,

From almost 50 years experience in the profession, including writing specifications for a 100+ person firm and handling construction administration on some large projects, my suggestion is to start a mentoring program in construction admin.  One does not have to write specifications to learn from them and about them.  The usual beginning point in many offices is the review (under supervision) of submittals and shop drawings, but could also be the review of substitution requests.  The next step could be assisting the project construction administrator on RFI's, usually requiring the review of both drawings and specs.  This could progress to assistance during field observations, helping with meeting management and observation reports.

While teaching production staff to become spec writers is not your goal, understanding how specifications are organized and coordinated with the drawings is an invaluable tool for them.  One of my frustrations has been a combination of the use of incorrect (non-industry standard) terminology, combined with non-generic terminology, or just simply saying things on the drawings that should be in the specs.  CSI's Certification Program for the CDT, or Certified Document Technologist, could be very worthwhile.  As a CCS, and almost 30 year CSI member, I am obviously somewhat biased, but I learned a lot myself after going through their program.

Construction is where the drawings and specs come together and our "Architecture" product is realized.  Good luck.

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Alan Atkinson AIA
Atkinson Quality Control
Honolulu HI
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There couldn't be a more valuable learning experience in the first 10 years of an architect's career than to take a deep dive into what specifications are, how they are developed and the field experience of relying upon the spec book.  I was in a firm (about 70 - 90 people) where the "technical services" leaders were held in the highest regard.  Those indiviuduals mentored, took time to explain and held the line with regards to spec and drawing coordination.  A set of documents did not go out of the office w/out the Project Architect working with the head spec writer to ensure there was  alignment between drawings and specs.  Of course this requried meeting time between the spec writer and the PA (and often junior design/technical staff).  This protocol also meant that the PA was mandated to read and understand the specs. 

The office developed a one year internship where 5 -7 year experienced staff had to apply to spend a year in the Tech Services department - to learn how to write specs and detail exterior envelopes.  The application was serious and typically was a one or two page submission on how the year assignment would help your career and ultimately make the office's projects better.  It was an honor to be selected into the role.  It was one of the most rewarding years one could envision.  The "intern" wrote specs (discussed and checked by the chief specifier), helped various project teams detail buildings (discussed and checked by one of the senior technical architects in the department).  The role was budgeted for on projects and was a fiscally responsible way to get a lot of work (and some research) done with a modestly priced staff member. 

Technical excellence starts from the top down.  Need to drive this as a non-negotialbe if your firm wants to achieve best-in-class results.

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Charles Smith AIA
Cannon Design
Chicago IL
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-03-2015 18:25
From: Alan Atkinson
Subject: The big unknown of specs


John,

From almost 50 years experience in the profession, including writing specifications for a 100+ person firm and handling construction administration on some large projects, my suggestion is to start a mentoring program in construction admin.  One does not have to write specifications to learn from them and about them.  The usual beginning point in many offices is the review (under supervision) of submittals and shop drawings, but could also be the review of substitution requests.  The next step could be assisting the project construction administrator on RFI's, usually requiring the review of both drawings and specs.  This could progress to assistance during field observations, helping with meeting management and observation reports.

While teaching production staff to become spec writers is not your goal, understanding how specifications are organized and coordinated with the drawings is an invaluable tool for them.  One of my frustrations has been a combination of the use of incorrect (non-industry standard) terminology, combined with non-generic terminology, or just simply saying things on the drawings that should be in the specs.  CSI's Certification Program for the CDT, or Certified Document Technologist, could be very worthwhile.  As a CCS, and almost 30 year CSI member, I am obviously somewhat biased, but I learned a lot myself after going through their program.

Construction is where the drawings and specs come together and our "Architecture" product is realized.  Good luck.

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Alan Atkinson AIA
Atkinson Quality Control
Honolulu HI
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I would have the person leading the assembly of  drawings (job captain, project architect, technical coordinator) put together an outline of the specifications for the project.  You could even have a staff architect put the sections together with coaching from a more senior architect as well.  Many of the product lunch and learns I have attended in the past have mentioned what sections their work lies in.

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Peter Leoschke AIA
Mount Prospect IL
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Make required reading a transcript of a deposition or trial testimony before opposing counsel of an architect charged with malpractice based on lack of coordination and integration of contract documents.

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John Nyfeler FAIA, LEED AP
John Nyfeler, FAIA
Austin TX
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John,
I used to work in a multi-office firm.  On one project, one office did the foundations, my office did the rest of the building. a spec writer from another office did the specs.  You can imagine the problems we had during construction.

Specs and drawings go together.  You need knowledge of one to do the other.  The best success I have seen is the person responsible for the production of the drawings should do the specs.  If necessary, have the spec writer clean them up and provide a check.  In many instances, specs may modify or add details; plus doing the specs acts as a double check for what you have drawn.  Specs will take 8-16 hours, but it is well worth the time.

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Michael Clark AIA
Director Of Design
H&H Design-Build
New Albany IN
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I recommend the following:

1.  Have a staff meeting.  Require attendance by the Specification Writer, Construction Contract Administrator(s), "designers", senior project managers/architects, project managers/architects, job captains, and drafters.
2.  Discuss the importance of preparing a Project Manual, which includes the Specifications, and coordinating the Project Manual documents and sections with the Drawings, and AIA Document G612 "Owner's Instructions to the Architect Regarding the Construction Contract" [http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab098548.pdf] and the Owner/Architect Agreement.  State that Courts and Lawyers generally refer to the Project Manual/Specifications - rather than the Drawings - during legal proceedings.  Specification Writer and Construction Contract Administrator(s) should freely participate in the discussion, if not actually lead the discussion.
2.  Emphatically state that the selection of materials, products, colors and textures is as important a task as designing the floor plans and elevations (both interior and exterior), as well as the siting/orientation, of a building.  State that schools/colleges of architecture make a serious mistake in not emphasizing the importance of this task, and the subsequent preparation of a Project Manual.  Also, state that researching materials and products, including options, is an essential task if details are to be designed - emphasize that preparing details is also a very important design task - to be "constructible"
3.  Discuss who should be responsible for researching and selecting materials, products, colors and materials.  (I believe this task, including the assembling of data into files for future reference, should be preformed by the "designer" and Specifications Writer during the Design Development phase of services.  Too often in my experience, this task is allowed to be performed during the CD phase, thereby limiting the time budgeted for preparing and coordinating the Drawings and Specifications.)
4.  Review recent RFIs and Change Orders for a project to make it clear to the staff that inadequate preparation and coordination of the Project Manual with the Drawings has legal and financial consequences.  State that the fewer problems a project has during construction means more profit for the firm which translates to salary increases and bonuses.
5.  And, state that all employees are expected to continue their education - on their own time and at their expense or during lunch hours when the firm hosts a lunch and learn presentation by a manufacturer's representative.

I also recommend the firm contact the Construction Specification Chapter in Burlington, and request it make a presentation about the CDT, CCS and CCCA certifications.  See the following websites for more information:
http://new.csinet.org/csi_services/chapterinfo.aspx?chapcode=103
http://www.csinet.org/Main-Menu-Category/Certification.aspx
http://www.ncarb.org/Experience-Through-Internships/IDP2-Experience-Settings/IDP2-Supplemental-Experience-Core/Certificate-Programs.aspx

Another website that may be of interest to the staff is http://www.constructionspecifier.com/.  Note that the latest issue of The Construction Specifier magazine can be read on this site.

The firm can also purchase Practice Guides, Workbooks, and PowerPoint presentations from CSI which can be made available to the staff as reference materials.  [https://portal.csinet.org/Sales/Cart/ProductSearch.aspx?selmenid=men6]

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Larry Alan Whitlock AIA
Independent Architectural Specifications Consultant
Larry Alan Whitlock
Pflugerville TX
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-06-2015 08:11
From: Michael Clark
Subject: The big unknown of specs

John,
I used to work in a multi-office firm.  On one project, one office did the foundations, my office did the rest of the building. a spec writer from another office did the specs.  You can imagine the problems we had during construction.

Specs and drawings go together.  You need knowledge of one to do the other.  The best success I have seen is the person responsible for the production of the drawings should do the specs.  If necessary, have the spec writer clean them up and provide a check.  In many instances, specs may modify or add details; plus doing the specs acts as a double check for what you have drawn.  Specs will take 8-16 hours, but it is well worth the time.

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Michael Clark AIA
Director Of Design
H&H Design-Build
New Albany IN
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John,

One could easily write a book on "the big unknown of specs", but let me try to be brief on this subject.

As a young architect, many years ago, the old adage of "I didn't know what I didn't know" was true then and true of all emerging professionals. Specs was certainly one of those subjects that not a part of my early training. I completely agree with Don, the CSI Construction Document Technologist (CDT) training program should be required by all firms wanting to establish a minimum standard of care with their staff.

Drawing and Specifications are the most common Instruments of Service of the Architect and are the ying and yang of Contract Documents. Drawings are the graphic or pictorial portion of the Contract Documents, which shows construction objects and the relationship on one construction object to another construction objects that make up the building elements. Specifications are the written portion of the Contract Documents that provide the administrative and qualitative requirements of the project. They are complementary and together convey the design intent.

Architecture like most professions not only have our own language but also own processes. Without a clear understanding of project delivery, including project delivery methods, instruments of service, project and contract administration, and a few other topics, one is only an architect in name only. Thinking like an architect is what makes us architects and that can only happen when we ensure that our staffs are trained in all critical aspects of project delivery.



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Dennis Hall, FAIA, FCSI
Chairman | CEO,
Hall Architects, Inc.
Charlotte NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-06-2015 08:11
From: Michael Clark
Subject: The big unknown of specs

John,
I used to work in a multi-office firm.  On one project, one office did the foundations, my office did the rest of the building. a spec writer from another office did the specs.  You can imagine the problems we had during construction.

Specs and drawings go together.  You need knowledge of one to do the other.  The best success I have seen is the person responsible for the production of the drawings should do the specs.  If necessary, have the spec writer clean them up and provide a check.  In many instances, specs may modify or add details; plus doing the specs acts as a double check for what you have drawn.  Specs will take 8-16 hours, but it is well worth the time.

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Michael Clark AIA
Director Of Design
H&H Design-Build
New Albany IN
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Use the specs as a checklist for site visits.  It wont' help with your current spec writing, but it should help with new projects.  Have them review the spec requirements before heading to the job site and make a cheat sheet/checklist if necessary.  Depending on the stage of construction - do the products delivered match the specs and are they stored as per the specs, is installation as per specs, is cleanup and protection as per specs.  They will learn the relationship between the specs, the drawings, and the construction as well as what to look for during site visits.

And checking submittals/shop drawings always helps with the product part of it.  They have to read in detail the product requirements.  Sometimes the specs include inconsistencies between the product listed and its specific requirements.  It is a good check for future projects, a teachable moment for the staff, and keeps you from specifying something that does not actually exist!

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Karen Campbell AIA
Assistant Director & Architect
LSU Agricultural Center Facilities Planning
Baton Rouge LA
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-06-2015 08:11
From: Michael Clark
Subject: The big unknown of specs

John,
I used to work in a multi-office firm.  On one project, one office did the foundations, my office did the rest of the building. a spec writer from another office did the specs.  You can imagine the problems we had during construction.

Specs and drawings go together.  You need knowledge of one to do the other.  The best success I have seen is the person responsible for the production of the drawings should do the specs.  If necessary, have the spec writer clean them up and provide a check.  In many instances, specs may modify or add details; plus doing the specs acts as a double check for what you have drawn.  Specs will take 8-16 hours, but it is well worth the time.

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Michael Clark AIA
Director Of Design
H&H Design-Build
New Albany IN
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John,

A couple of additional thoughts:

1.    Consider having your staff study for and take CSI's CDT exam.  It's a great way for ALL to have a base line understanding of how specs are written and why. It covers a typical spec section Part 1 very well, it doesn't however teach the Part 2 products and Part 3 execution side.

2.  Require the use of keynotes in BIM.  This makes a link from the Model Components directly to the spec sections.  Make your spec writer manage the keylist naming convention and conversations will be required to occur between the spec writer and the younger staff/modelers.

3.  Have the younger staff/modelers meet with the product reps, check submittal, and send them out to the field.


Good luck!
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Donald Koppy AIA
Architecture Team Leader
Atkins (PBSJ)
Tampa FL
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I second Donald Koppy's reply.
I attained the CDT and it has helped me gain a more holistic understanding of project delivery. I suggest getting a copy of the Project Delivery Practice Guide from CSI and having the staff read it at least if studying for the exam is too onerous.

If you want to be an architect, you have to understand specifications along with the other 1000 things the we need to know as professionals.

Good luck. 

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Daniel Guich, NCARB, LEED AP
Project Architect
Daniel Guich Architecture
San Francisco, CA
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-06-2015 18:46
From: Donald Koppy
Subject: The big unknown of specs

John,

A couple of additional thoughts:

1.    Consider having your staff study for and take CSI's CDT exam.  It's a great way for ALL to have a base line understanding of how specs are written and why. It covers a typical spec section Part 1 very well, it doesn't however teach the Part 2 products and Part 3 execution side.

2.  Require the use of keynotes in BIM.  This makes a link from the Model Components directly to the spec sections.  Make your spec writer manage the keylist naming convention and conversations will be required to occur between the spec writer and the younger staff/modelers.

3.  Have the younger staff/modelers meet with the product reps, check submittal, and send them out to the field.


Good luck!
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Donald Koppy AIA
Architecture Team Leader
Atkins (PBSJ)
Tampa FL
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Although I agree with most of the replies to John's post, I do not see that anyone has suggested an approach based on the interests and practices of the generation that has entered the workforce in the last few years - the 'customers' you are trying to enlist. Most of them favor digital media and  fun apps over hard copy books. They are also more likely to use Google or similar search engines to find answers (right or wrong, but just a click away and probably colorful) to their questions about products and standards.

Like a few other respondents, I learned a lot about specs through CA work, especially when challenged (by a contractor) with contradictions between drawings and specs. Working as a job captain in a 250-person office, I also did CA site visits, and I felt a sense of responsibility/ownership for making the project turn out well. That sense of ownership of one's work is very important to learning the business, but it is not shared equally by all in most firms. Further, the content of architectural education has changed in the last few decades, and those leaving architecture school and entering the workplace today are likely to have taken fewer building technology courses that could equip them with an appreciation for the organization and content of specifications.

Given changing interests and education, and use of more user-friendly digital technology (apps), I think it may be more effective to change the delivery of the information to staff you want to enlist in researching and gathering information for specifications. One approach might include small group (or team) mini-projects that focus on spec needs for a small part of a building (e.g., an outside corner that involves numerous products, or a wall that includes a window and numerous related materials) and use the content of the drawings as a basis for researching spec information. Find a way to effectively employ current, user friendly point and click (or voice) technology to gather spec information. Specs as we know them with outline numbered organization into divisions, sections, parts, paragraphs, and sub-paragraphs may be comfortable territory for those of us who have already learned them through trial by fire, but the organization itself can seem dull and burdensome to someone who has learned a colorful graphic approach and sees that as the main event. You might even ask the enlistees to design a game for developing spec information and see where that goes before locking it into an established spec format.

Eventually, specifications and drawings should be combined and integrated as extensions of smart drawings (including more objects and assemblies with embedded spec information), and those who prepare the drawings (in Revit or other programs) will need to collaborate in gathering and generating spec information for that purpose. Continuing to separate specs from drawings and continuing to delegate spec writing to others may lead to a long term loss of spec writing skills among the architects who are responsible for the content when specs and drawings meet at the construction site. 

My first employer was an architect with a firm of just a few employees, and he generated the spec content himself, probably knowing that he would be on the front line during construction and would be held responsible for the content. He marked up specs from previous projects and then sent the marked up book to a typist. His education and training had given him a good knowledge of the materials he was including in his projects, and that knowledge also influenced his designs (he was the principal designer and the spec writer). 

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Albert Russell AIA
Architect
Albert R. Russell, Architect
Milton VT
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-09-2015 17:42
From: Daniel Guich
Subject: The big unknown of specs

I second Donald Koppy's reply.
I attained the CDT and it has helped me gain a more holistic understanding of project delivery. I suggest getting a copy of the Project Delivery Practice Guide from CSI and having the staff read it at least if studying for the exam is too onerous.

If you want to be an architect, you have to understand specifications along with the other 1000 things the we need to know as professionals.

Good luck. 

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Daniel Guich, NCARB, LEED AP
Project Architect
Daniel Guich Architecture
San Francisco, CA
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