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Robin E. Snyder
Senior Member
Username: robin

Post Number: 648
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 05:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Does anyone submit a list of items to the architect at project kick-off, detailing items needed to complete specifications? If so, would you be willing to share? robin@spectraspecs.com
Richard Gonser AIA CSI CCCA SCIP
Senior Member
Username: rich_gonser

Post Number: 133
Registered: 11-2008
Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 06:19 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Will you be at the SCIP meting?
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS
Senior Member
Username: michael_chusid

Post Number: 208
Registered: 10-2003


Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 06:29 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Just an observation -- the list would vary depending on the phase of the project in which you become involved.
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS
www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru 818-219-4937
Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, NCARB
Senior Member
Username: lazarcitec

Post Number: 1701
Registered: 05-2003
Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 06:38 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

I call them the Job Laundry Lists, in spec section hierarchy, a list of items I know vary from job to job and are not clearly shown on the drawings, my Laundry Lists are customized for each job, and are constantly being refined per each job, several of my clients demand I send them one. The only ones I share my Laundry Lists with are my clients. Besides, they are only valid for So FL construction.
Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, NCARB
Senior Member
Username: lazarcitec

Post Number: 1702
Registered: 05-2003
Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 06:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Michael, you are correct, if time permits a Laundry List is issued at start of job and may be reissued depending on the responses I receive or the complexity of the job. Building Owners seem to really appreciate these lists, putting their two cents in when appropriate. I've been preparing Laundry Lists for over 20 years, for my practice its been very effective.
Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP, EDAC
Senior Member
Username: redseca2

Post Number: 558
Registered: 12-2006


Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 06:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

I don't have a stand alone list or special spreadsheet. I work in a large firm where I bill to the project on my time card just like everyone else - so what I do may not work for an independent spec writer.

What I do is simply "explode" the Table of Contents so that the Section name is followed by my questions as bullet points. I think I started this when I would use a copy of the project TOC on a lap top as scratch paper to keep notes during meetings.

Sometimes I give them multiple choice items to select from. Once in a while I even paste in images of something simple yet fundamental and ask them to choose. Last week it was a beauty contest of through glass handrail brackets to select from.

For for many nuts and bolts Sections I note that I will cover this one myself and they should read the spec :-).

This is also the place to work out type terminology that will appear in Drawing Keynotes, Drawing Schedules, as well as the specifications. Ideally we develop a list that can be copied and pasted into all three. Also, I know I have shown them at least once where everything is located in the specifications (with varying degrees of success).

What when formatted originally as a project TOC was six pages long can get very large because I keep adding adding to it with dated revisions throughout the design phases.
Robin E. Snyder
Senior Member
Username: robin

Post Number: 649
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 07:03 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

i am looking for something before the project even starts. So, when the job kicks off, i can send a list to the client day one. NOT a TOC based "checklist" of what is in the project necessarily. I can create my own, just thought maybe someone has one they are willing to share to save me some time.
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS
Senior Member
Username: michael_chusid

Post Number: 209
Registered: 10-2003


Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 07:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Are you familiar with Omniclass Table 21? It is organized by building elements like walls and foundations, etc, more akin to the way most architects think.

http://www.omniclass.org/
Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS
www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru 818-219-4937
Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, NCARB
Senior Member
Username: lazarcitec

Post Number: 1703
Registered: 05-2003
Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 07:25 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Robin, Ten years ago a Spec Checklist was floating around prepared by McCarty Consulting Group, Inc., I never found it of much use, the one I have a copy of is based on the 16 division format, Robin if you want a copy, its 30 pgs long I will send it to you, via snail mail, after I covert it to PDF.
Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, NCARB
Senior Member
Username: lazarcitec

Post Number: 1704
Registered: 05-2003
Posted on Monday, September 05, 2016 - 07:26 pm:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Actually I found one in MF04.
Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap
Senior Member
Username: lgoodrob

Post Number: 299
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2016 - 09:24 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Robin,

This would be a great topic for the SCIP meeting.

We do use a spec checklist, which I believe our office has made available to SCIP members, but I can email you a copy today. I just updated it last month.

Perhaps what you really need is more preliminary information, for baby architects and recalcitrant repeat clients, to explain how you do your job. Would it set expectations for work results? Maybe it's something more like 'the care and feeding of your specifier,' to define who does what and when during the schedule? The more I think about it, the more I think I need one too.
-
Greta Eckhardt
Senior Member
Username: gretaeckhardt

Post Number: 45
Registered: 08-2013


Posted on Tuesday, September 06, 2016 - 09:30 am:   Edit PostDelete PostPrint Post

Following up on Michael's excellent suggestion, I offer the fact that ideally I start a project by working on a Preliminary Project Description with the team. The PPD is organized according to UniFormat, which is basically the same as Omniclass Table 21. UniFormat offers a great structure for discussing the design concept in terms of construction assemblies, rather than getting bogged down in MasterFormat-related decision-making. The PPD then becomes the "specifications" for Schematic Design and if done well, provides the information I need to prepare a draft TOC when I need to get started on full-length sections for later phases of design & documentation. The PPD is also succinct enough that the Owner can readily review it and know what they are buying. If you are not familiar with this approach, I suggest purchasing a copy of PPDFormat and UniFormat from CSI.

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