Specifications must be written following the "Four C's" of effective communication: Clear, Concise, Correct and Complete.  Getting each "C" done right presents its own challenges.  To be correct, a spec must avoid errors and properly describe the scope..

Almost all architectural firms and specifications consultants maintain full sets of office master guide specifications, which, among their many benefits, serve to streamline the development of project specifications.  Development and maintenance of..

Many may consider office master guide specifications an expense. Developing and maintaining guide specifications requires a considerable amount of time and many resources. Specifiers rely on commercial masters such as MasterSpec, SpecText, and Speclink..

Just who are specifications written for? The Architect? The Owner? Neither! In order of importance, I profess that specifications are written for the benefit of:

It seems a relatively simple building. There are only 50 drawings. So why are the specifications 800 pages? It does seem absurd. Let's take a critical look to see if there is a better way.

How can architects ensure their specifications are consistent from one project to the next or one project architect to the next? How can architects ensure that their specifications will deliver the intended quality for every project?

An interesting question--no doubt about it! More than 90 Specifying Practice Group members, an attendance record, met last week to discuss it.

Have you found yourself thinking or possibly yelling, "I hate specs!" as though you have been cursed by the task? Then think about this:

Fifty-three members of CSI's Specifying Practice Group met August 5 to discuss the updates for two of CSI's formatting documents: SectionFormat and PageFormat. The meeting included wonderful discussion and interaction among the members while reviewing..