I just assembled a Construction Document progress specification for a proposed nearby high school. In spite of my best efforts to stream-line things, my attempt was foiled - mostly by the Mechanical/Plumbing/Electrical Engineer.
How could this happen?
I blame the idiosyncrasies of specification writing software. It used to be that specification sections would often describe related components - all plumbing fixtures, for example. In order to produce the spec for a specific project, the writer would open the spec section document in their favorite software. Components would be added or deleted as needed. With the right combination of master spec spec and software, this could be as simple as toggling elements on and off.
For the truly lazy, there's a tempting alternative. If a master section includes only one component, no editing may be needed. After setting up enough of these "master" sections in advance, all the casual spec writer has to do is list the needed sections for an administrative assistant to copy and collate. Voila - you have what passes as a project specification, lacking only actual custom components.
Here's the rub - this approach can easily triple the number of individual sections. Each one with redundant general requirements. I hate it, and I suspect most Contractors do as well. My latest high school project had an assembled specification of more than 2500 pages, more than 1400 of which were multiple mechanical, plumbing and electrical sections. Who really reads all this stuff? I have to admit, even though I assembled it, I didn't have the patience.
Would you?
