The Real Benefit of Master Guide Spec Systems

Master guide specification systems, such as SPECTEXT®, can provide many benefits to specifiers. These systems are written by experts. For SPECTEXT®, CSRF employs nationally recognized practicing specifiers to prepare and maintain the library of specification Sections. For unique subjects, specialists are often consulted to verify the technical accuracy of the documents. CSRF and their consultants rely on a variety of quality assurance programs to ensure the documents suit their subscriber's needs and remain current with construction industry trends.

SPECTEXT® is written, updated and maintained by practicing architectural, civil, mechanical, and electrical specifiers, each with a minimum of 25 years experience. SPECTEXT® authors track areas where changes seem necessary when the documents are used to prepare project specifications. Possibly more important, during construction of the projects for which they have written specifications, authors keep notes about contractors' questions that indicate changes may be needed to ensure the specification intent is clear. With practicing specifiers collecting information from actual project use, SPECTEXT® libraries include the practical experiences that help reduce errors and questions during construction.

Each SPECTEXT® section is written following The Construction Specifications Institute recommended format documents and the Manual of Practice. These documents establish the imperative mood and streamlined text as the preferred writing style for specifications. These styles minimize the amount of text by eliminating words that are unnecessary to convey the meaning. This style works well with the outline organizational format for each specification section. Readers can quickly comprehend the hierarchy of the section because paragraphs are short, usually with a heading that indicates the subject of the paragraph. All sections in the SPECTEXT® and SPECTEXT II® libraries were rewritten in 1998 to comply, fully, with MasterFormat®1995 tiles and numbers. This step ensures consistency among the documents and with current industry standards.

Master guide specification systems provide extensive resources at a minimal cost compared to creating your own master system without relying on commercial products. Master system publishers distribute the development and maintenance costs over a large number of subscribers. This allows publishers, such as The Construction Sciences Research Foundation (CSRF), to support and fund the staff and resources required to maintain the documents, keeping them current with the construction industry. It also allows development of new specification sections and editing tools to help make specification writing easier for subscribers. Shifting maintenance and development costs to a master system publisher through a subscription fee is a smart business decision that reduces overhead costs associated with maintaining office standards.

Master systems are a valuable quality assurance tool and training aid. The specifier's notes in each specification section and supporting documents offer valuable advice about material selections and use. Often the notes provide reminders of the coordination required between the drawings and the specifications. Specifications and the SPECTEXT® Glossary also identify materials and products with names that becomes the glossary of terms that draftsmen and designers must know to ensure coordination with the drawings. By exposing the design team to the master systems, they can learn about materials and their application for a project. They can also learn that many notes accompanying material identifications that appear on drawings can be eliminated, because the information is included in the specification. Once learned, reducing the notes on the drawings will reduce errors in repeated notes, reduce inconsistency between the specifications and drawings, and reduce the infamous requests for information (RFI) during construction.

There is no better incentive to use a master guide specification system than the time and cost saved for:

Preparing project specifications

Answering questions during construction

Maintaining office master specifications

Researching new or little used materials and systems

The real benefit of using master guide specification systems is the high quality service perceived by your client and the inevitable reputation that perception builds.

About the Author: David Stutzman, RA, CSI, CCS is president of Focus Collaborative, Inc., a specifications and quality assurance consulting firm with offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Focus develops and maintains the SPECTEXT® database and editing tools for the Construction Sciences Research Foundation, in coordination with the SPECTEXT® Review Committee.

The CSRF newsletter is published for SPECTEXT® subscribers and others involved in design and construction. To obtain your copy of Creating a Common Language®, please contact the CSRF Support Center by telephone at 1-877- SPECTXT or 410-838-7561 or you may e-mail us at supportcenter@csrf.org

©  Copyright 2007, The Construction Sciences Research Foundation, Inc.  Updated January 12, 2007.