Specification feedback during CA

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Author Message Chris Sanders Senior Member Username: chris_sanders Post Number: 6 Registered: 05-2016 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 01:21 pm:    Hello all- I work as a dedicated specifier for a large firm, with offices throughout the US. Typically, I don't hear much/anything about a project after it has entered CA. This includes the spec, which is a shame because I feel that such information would help me provide a better manual, which in turn would help CA run smoother. It's something of a hard sell, to ask a busy person to perform extra work which will help me do my job better, on a future project which he/she probably won't be involved with! I'm sure that most (or all) of you have encountered this situation before. So...what advice can you give me to help eliminate this disconnect? Note that I already try to track down "public" information on the field performance of the specs: RFIs, minutes, submittals, as well as talk to the various PMs when I have an opportunity. Thanks in advance for your insight, much appreciated! Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, NCARB Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1753 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 01:30 pm:    I reach out to the CA and ask how the project is going, any questions they have, any concerns, any recommendations, and I continue to ask these questions during the construction process. When an update to a commonly used publication becomes available, I forward a copy to the CA ,sure they can grab a copy off the internet themselves, but many don't have the time. After a while you build up a relationship with the CA and they will reach out to you. Non pressure sharing of information works best. Jeffrey Wilson CSI CCS SCIP Senior Member Username: wilsonconsulting Post Number: 213 Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 01:42 pm:    I remind my clients frequently that they should contact me when issues arise during construction. Many times, there are provisions in the spec that will quickly resolve a problem or answer a question, and I can more readily find these because of my familiarity w/ documents I created. Often, there is "ammunition" in the spec that can put an issue to rest when the CA is struggling w/ a response. Once they have seen how quickly issues can get resolved by finding & citing spec provisions they might not have otherwise known were there, this gives them an incentive to get in touch when they are facing a challenge. It takes repetition over time, but people eventually remember that they have a resource in the spec consultant. Jeffrey Wilson CCS CSI SCIP Wilson Consulting Inc Ardmore PA David J. Wyatt, CDT Senior Member Username: david_j_wyatt_cdt Post Number: 183 Registered: 03-2011 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 04:13 pm:    Jerome and Jeffrey, Your clients are lucky to have you. Those are great principles to live and work by. user (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 03:46 pm:    When I worked as a full-time in house specifier, I created a simple, half-page form asking for feed back from our construction contractor administrators. Edward J Dueppen, RA, CSI, CCS, LEED AP Senior Member Username: edueppen Post Number: 38 Registered: 08-2013 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 04:39 pm:    I am a dedicated in-house spec writer for a mid-size firm with 3 offices. I have found the same difficulty that Chris mentions. While I know that the project manual is not easily understood or perfect (despite my best intentions), I am surprised at how rarely I am contacted by the CA staff. I have reached out to some of the project architects from time-to-time to remind them that I am available for questions and assistance. I have found that some of them are gradually making increased use of my offers. As Jeff mentions, it takes time and repetition. When I am approached, I do my best to respond quickly and thoroughly so that they know they can count on me. The lack of initial contact to me when a CA problem has arisen has led to some interesting dialogues. Occasionally the project architect will contact me as a follow up to a problem they worked out themselves without my assistance. They call to offer me advice on what could be done to improve my specs - and I respond with the chapter and verse of the information that they thought was not in the project manual! Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, NCARB Senior Member Username: lazarcitec Post Number: 1755 Registered: 05-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 04:41 pm:    David, I firmly believe that specifiers are good people, willing to go the extra distance to ensure the documents are buildable. Just look at the comaraderie in this forum, members willing to help other members, sharing information, its downright inspring, especially since we are underpaid, over worked, and seldom appreciated. Nathan Woods, CSI, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: nwoods Post Number: 709 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 05:17 pm:    Chris, in a large firm, you should have a fairly decent system for logging CA related items such as Change Orders, RFI's, Submittals,Bulletins, etc... Do you have a reason code for Specifications in your tracking system? If not, start there! As items are logged, you can run reports and filter everything related to Specs and then click open the relevant RFI/Issue and learn from that. I use Newforma for this in my medium firm size organization, but I've used other systems as well. As long as the fields are properly set up, and you've got your CA staff logging things in properly, you are golden. Jeffrey Wilson CSI CCS SCIP Senior Member Username: wilsonconsulting Post Number: 214 Registered: 03-2006 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 05:25 pm:    Good point, Edward. I have learned about situations after the fact when clients actually settled a change order for a claim that I knew could easily have been disputed w/ provisions in the spec had they thought to ask me. In addition to a desire for the specs to be used to their fullest to resolve issues, one of my primary motivations for encouraging feedback from the field is continuous improvement of the documents over time. Scar tissue gets integrated into the office masters, and all my clients receive the benefit from each other's experience in heading off future problems. This aspect of the practice features in my marketing pitch. Jeffrey Wilson CCS CSI SCIP Wilson Consulting Inc Ardmore PA Steven Bruneel, AIA, CSI-CDT, LEED-AP, EDAC Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 589 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 06:02 pm:    I work in a very large firm as a specification writer too. Big firms have intensive project management practices and the key is to be included in the project staffing through all phases of the project. If your billable hours drop to zero at start of construction there will not be a viable way for you to remain engaged. This might work better in my case because our projects are all large healthcare projects with big budgets and long schedules. If I bill 4 to 8 hours a month, it is a tiny piece of the overall CA budget when there are 6 or more full time architects on the job. What do I find myself doing? I handle most RFI's that reference DIV 0-14 specifications. I review shop drawings that are for items that depend heavily on the fine print of the specifications to define quality. In late June I will stand in for the principal on a project while they are on vacation. Many of our projects are design-build, design-assist, and various combinations. I often take part in the selection process for key subs like curtain wall, or even MEP. I attend punch list walk-throughs. Usually the original design team is off designing a new project and I am person with the longest project memory still standing. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: michael_chusid Post Number: 280 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 06:06 pm:    Let's put this into a wider context. There are many firms (and not just architectural firms) that do not encourage any feedback from one department to another. Blame, yes. But feedback, not so much. Lesson's learned are not shared, feedback from suppliers or subcontractors is not shared. Architectural education did not, and probably still doesn't, encourage team work. The exception, of course, is that the lucky person finds a mentor. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru 818-219-4937 Edward J Dueppen, RA, CSI, CCS, LEED AP Senior Member Username: edueppen Post Number: 39 Registered: 08-2013 Posted on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 - 06:28 pm:    An interesting tangent here is that I helped initiate an in-house education program featuring monthly presentations by staff. This was established as a way of sharing "wisdom" from more experienced staff to less experienced staff and cross-pollinating our teams. In developing subjects for the presentations I advocate for "lessons learned" - just talk about what went wrong on your project and how you fixed it. An unexpected outcome of this program series is that I often learn about the spec concerns from these presentations! I usually follow up with the presenter to make sure I understood their issue and share my proposed solution with them. Chris Sanders Senior Member Username: chris_sanders Post Number: 7 Registered: 05-2016 Posted on Thursday, May 18, 2017 - 08:52 am:    Wow, what an awesome bunch of responses! You guys are great, seriously. If I’m being honest, I have to accept that I’m part of the problem that I am trying to correct. It’s pretty easy to silo myself, work on a project until it’s done, then move on to the next one. Based on this feedback, I’m going to try to improve my own communications so that CA (and others) come to me with spec questions, however basic, whenever they arise. I’ll also work toward more firm-centric solutions, like getting some billable time in CA, and identifying/improving our Newforma reporting process. Those things, plus the serenity prayer, should go a long way toward improving my specifications and the projects with which they’re associated. Thanks again.