In my recent post, When Specifiers Engage in Magical Thinking, I described what happens when aspecifier believes that putting more instructions into a specification willmake for a better outcome.  Never mindwhether or not those instructions were..

One of the hallmarks of magical thinking is the notion that if you think a thing, you can make it happen, simply by thinking it.  This is often reinforced by our tendency to see connections between events and our propensity to interpret those..

What could possibly go wrong?

Looking at the recent history of construction, we find that it is littered with a spectrum of failures, from minor cosmetic types up to and including those that are truly catastrophic.  The former may include mere annoyances - cracked finishes and the..

Yes it is a spec, and it deserves attention - the proper attention to be certain the contractor delivers what is required by the contract. The design team created the drawings and specifications defining the project to meet the owner's requirements and..

We were asked to submit a proposal, and ultimately were engaged, to provide architectural specifications services for a new seven story core and shell medical office building. The architect had already employed an exterior wall consultant to help with..

The bidders are required to attend a pre-bid meeting. The owner, the design team, and (presumably) all the bidders attend. Each meeting follows essentially the same agenda.

This month the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) will hold its annual convention and the Specifications Consultants in Independent Practice (SCIP) will hold its annual meeting, both in conjunction with CONSTRUCT, an annual educational seminar..

Be careful! Often project specifications are not written by one individual. The final project manual may have contributions by the architect, specifier, engineers (usually plural), and specialty consultants. Coordination problems must be eliminated..

Consultant specifications delivered to architects for inclusion in project manuals can produce some interesting coordination issues, especially when there is no time to make corrections before the scheduled publication.