When folks spend over four decades working, problem-solving, and learning in an industry, they become intimately familiar with the limitations of the tools available for working in that industry. Some people decide to plow ahead, working through those..

Issue 1 - Introduction and Classified Excavation

It is no secret that when alliances form, it sets up multiple organizations for success. When a single group works to move the industry in a positive direction, small steps move them forward. When..

Specifiers often struggle to come up with ways to make specifying simpler, to eliminate unwanted language, and to make specifications more correct.  At this year's CONSTRUCT AEC Education and Expo, Beth Stroshane posited that the way we write..

Over the past year, several Conpsectus team members have attended architect-manufacturer summits, colloquially known as 'speed dating' events.  David Stutzman recently returned from SpArc in Fort Worth, Texas, which is run by Opal Summits.  Last month I..

Architects and specifiers alike face significant and continuous challenges when it comes to identifying and validating reliable information about construction products.  Using an incorrect product for an application can lead to significant failure, and..

Have you made the connection yourself? Connecting data to make it available and useable for each team will improve efficiency and reduce risk for every construction project. The focus has been on inserting data into BIM to describe the objects the design..

When writing construction specifications what is really important the format or content? Listening to some design teams, it seems lack of consistent format generate the greatest anxiety. Why is this? Well architects are generally visual creatures...

Construction specifications are arranged by MasterFormat's 50 divisions and thousands of section numbers and titles - everyone knows that. There is a recent trend, at least with our architect clients, toward specifying complete systems and assigning..

It's a debate. The debate is evidenced in all the commercial guide specifications and even CSI's SectionFormat™. Related Requirements is an article heading near the beginning of specification sections. This article gives specifiers an opportunity to list..

When is the architect required to prepare an estimate of the Cost of Work according to AIA Document B101 Standard Form of Agreement Between Owner and Architect?