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members of the following organizations
  
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Specifications
are written to communicate with potentially hundreds of people
involved with the project, to assure they implement both the intent
of the designers and the requirements needed to assure proper installation. Specifications can be as complex to produce
as the drawings and can range from a single printed volume
to several volumes. In some respects, this work is similar
to that of an attorney producing a contract
dtr
uses
the both the 16-division 1995 MasterFormat & the 49-divisions CSI MasterFormat system of information organization
developed and improved over the years by members of The Construction
Specifications Institute (CSI). These divisions cover the various
materials, products, and equipment that go into a building.
They are important because they govern the way information
is filed in the design office library, and they assure consistency
among construction documents nationwide.
Each
project specification section describes a unit of work and end product. Specification sections are broken
down into three parts under the CSI SectionFormat:
Part
1 - General
Covers
applicable industry standards, references to other sections, LEED requirements, governs submittals, establishes quality asssurance, code requirements, site mock-ups, site conditions, minimum performance criteria, special warranties and required maintenance services.
Part
2 - Products
Describes
products and assemblies to be used on the project, names
of acceptable manufacturers, product accessories, material desciptions & performance data, fabrication requirements, finishes and other product performance criteria.
Part
3 - Execution
Addresses substrate preparation,
examination, installation requirements for products and accessories, processes and job site conditions
that must be maintained during product usage including field quality assurance testing, cleaning and protection of finished products.
.
Specifications
may be written in multiple ways, but usually as a combination
of the following:
-
Performance Specifications describe the product
without mentioning the manufacturer. Requirements might include
meeting a specific wind load, color range, or structural loading.
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Prescriptive Specifications refer to industry
reference standards, provide a generic description of the
assembly, or list the proprietary brand names of one or more
manufacturers.
Specifications should never be written naming a product only, then stating "or equal... |
