Thoughts on Colin's New Survey

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Author Message nwoods (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2020 - 07:31 pm:    I found the live results on Colin's recent survey to be really interesting. 45 out of 120 of you are over 65 years old. Damn. FLW is famous for saying that "Architecture is great because you can do it until you are 90 years old, but its bad because you have to do it until you are 90 years old." You are proving him right! I don't want to keep working, I want to retire and only just turned 50. LOL Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 472 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Thursday, September 17, 2020 - 07:53 pm:    This survey is focused on specifers, project architects and design team members looking to determine if they use a computer or smart phone and what you are looking for on the website. I plan to use this to show manufacturers that their web designers do not understand what is needed as they focus on Google and smart phones. You can take the survey here: http://www.4specs.com/survey_2020/index.html The results for the first 120 responses is here: http://www.4specs.com/survey_2020/data-all.pdf Colin Gilboy Publisher, 4specs.com 702-505-9119 - Las Vegas James Sandoz, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: jsandoz Post Number: 304 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Friday, September 18, 2020 - 09:19 am:    I took the survey too. Colin I hope you are successful in getting manufacturers to understand what is needed. Smart phones have their use but for the way I use manufacturers' web sites I need two 21 inch monitors (and it is not because I'm old :-), I believe I fall in the middle of the pack in that regard. Another thing is the content of manufacturers so-call specifications. They are, more often than not, their marketing verbiage 'beaten' into a three-part format. I know I'll get flak from some manufacturers but I stand by my claim. When a "specification" becomes didactic as in, "Fasteners shall be stainless steel to provide superior corrosion protection." I know I'm looking at marketing speak. First the requirement should be in the imperative mood and state the 'what' not the 'why.' "Provide stainless steel fasteners." Period. Second, if manufacturers insist on publishing specifications they need to run them by a competent, trained specification writer. I believe our colleague Michael Chusid (and others) even offer this service. I believe I can write an effective specification using product information. Manufacturers should direct their efforts to provide salient information on their web sites. If they believe their guide "specifications" are helpful to the non-full-time specification writer they are mistaken. I have received such from consultants for public work. Even if those have been made "non-proprietary" by removing the manufacturer's name so many features and properties left in make it obvious the specification is describing a very particular product. Maybe I am an old man yelling at clouds. :-) ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1301 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, September 18, 2020 - 09:31 am:    James, you are right on target. Doesn't mean you're not an old, yelling man. What's wrong with that? Colin, first, thanks for taking the time to conduct the survey. I hope you can get manufacturers to start listening. Second, please explain to them that if they can't invest in a good CCS to write their guide spec then I'm probably going to look elsewhere for information; probably with their competitors. Third, please suggest that they hire CDT or CCPR certified reps to provide us access to useful information instead of the marketing fluff that James referred to. I'm too darn old to be wasting my time with their BS. Ellis C. Whitby, PE, CSI, CDT, AIA, LEED Senior Member Username: ecwhitby Post Number: 534 Registered: 03-2003 Posted on Friday, September 18, 2020 - 09:47 am:    James & Ken; Hear, hear! Margaret G. Chewning FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: presbspec Post Number: 334 Registered: 01-2003 Posted on Friday, September 18, 2020 - 11:11 am:    I also thank you Colin, and pray the manufacturers hear us. I just spent a half day writing a section from scratch for a product not in my office master working from a manufacturer's "guide spec". Trying to rewrite the information into credible "4C's" and SectionFormat was challenging. Especially for a product that was new to me. I can spec a widget any day, but I need comprehensive information to work from. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: michael_chusid Post Number: 557 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Friday, September 18, 2020 - 02:14 pm:    James: Thanks for the hat tip. The challenge is deeper than just writing a guide spec. Many of the manufacturers to whom I consult know how to sell to contractors or the consumer market but need help understanding architectural and engineering dynamics. Other clients need help identifying what technical information the A/E needs and then to get testing or code evaluation reports. They need educational materials;vnot only CEU courses but also magazine articles that are more than fluff pieces. And I constantly look over the horizon to anticipate trends in construction. I used to write project specifications as well as product specs but found that to be a conflict of interest. While I am employed by manufacturers, I always think of what is best for the entire design - build - own - use community and the overall good of society. It's what lifts my work from being a huckster to the practice of a sort of meta-architecture. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS 1-818-219-4937 www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru James Sandoz, AIA, CSI, CCS Senior Member Username: jsandoz Post Number: 305 Registered: 06-2005 Posted on Monday, September 21, 2020 - 08:24 am:    Michael, I hope more manufacturers see what you wrote and come to understand the value of what you and others have to offer to them. They do indeed need to reach contractors and consumers (clients) but they can help their cause immensely if they make it easier for the design professionals to specify their products. Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 473 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - 04:30 pm:    I did a newsletter for manufacturers suggesting they also use Product Data Sheets. Here is the link: http://www.4specs.com/s2a/news/2020.06_data-sheets.html Colin Gilboy Publisher, 4specs.com 702-505-9119 - Las Vegas ken hercenberg Senior Member Username: khercenberg Post Number: 1303 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - 05:56 pm:    Does anyone else find it ironic that so many manufacturers ask how to best reach out to Specifiers when so few seem to be aware of our posts. Meanwhile we're scratching our collective heads asking how to get manufacturers to provide us with the information we need using a simple format like that discussed here? What a sad disconnect. Sometimes it seems like we're talking to ourselves. Colin, we're counting on you to carry our water friend. How great would it be to have direct links from www.4specs.com to manufacturers' data sheets with the format and level of information we're discussing here? Phil and Michael, I'm curious if this discussion was started in part because you're considering marketing services where you create spec-data type forms in addition to guide specs. If so, I'd sure be happy to mention it to manufacturers when I talk to them. Between you guys creating them and Colin posting them, it seems like everyone's lives can get a lot easier down the road. Who knows, maybe we'll even start communicating again. Am I just stating the obvious here? redseca2 (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - 08:03 pm:    Personally, I would be wearing a hardhat on a construction site, or waiting in an airport boarding lounge before I used a phone to do project related product research. I would prefer to wait and see it in widescreen desktop glory. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS Senior Member Username: michael_chusid Post Number: 560 Registered: 10-2003 Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 - 01:13 am:    I have been able to locate the Spec-Data Format and it is posted at http://discus.4specs.com/discus/messages/4254/9412.html?1600837377 in the discussion about Spec-Data. Ken: I try to write the technical data sheets and guide specs together since they are so closely linked. For example, I will write about performance data in the tech-data sheet, then ask myself if the criterion is something that has to be specified, too. Or I will be listing the Related Work in the guide spec, and realize I need to say something about substrates or whatever in the tech-data sheet. Thanks for offering to mention my name. Michael Chusid, RA FCSI CCS 1-818-219-4937 www.chusid.com www.buildingproduct.guru Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 668 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Monday, September 28, 2020 - 08:44 am:    Ken, We routinely recommend to our manufacturer clients that they have us create Technical Data Sheets (I believe CSI may still hold trademark to "Spec-Data") to go along with their guide specifications. A few do. I agree they are useful to specifiers, architects, and contractors. Phil Kabza FCSI CCS AIA SpecGuy Specifications Consultants www.SpecGuy.com phil@specguy.com Guest (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Monday, September 28, 2020 - 01:54 pm:    Phil, It looks like Reed Elsevier Inc. holds the trademark to Spec-Data. [edited link as it had expired - Colin] Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 474 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Monday, September 28, 2020 - 02:08 pm:    A corrected link is below as a saved pdf. Note that the trademark was assigned to and renewed by iSQFT, part of ConstructConnect which also owns MasterSpec. http://www.4specs.com/s2a/images/spec-data_trademark.pdf Colin Gilboy Publisher, 4specs.com 702-505-9119 - Las Vegas John Bunzick Senior Member Username: bunzick Post Number: 1823 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, September 28, 2020 - 02:38 pm:    Colin, As far as I know, MasterSpec is owned by Deltek, under a license from the AIA. I don't know the terms of that agreement, but licensing suggests to me that AIA is the actual owner of MasterSpec. Marc Chavez Senior Member Username: mchavez Post Number: 605 Registered: 07-2002 Posted on Monday, September 28, 2020 - 02:42 pm:    yes, AIA owns the content of MasterSpec, we manage it. We Own SpecText on our own, it is not an AIA product. ConctructConnect is a "sister company" within Roper... but a different company. Colin Gilboy Senior Member Username: colin Post Number: 476 Registered: 09-2005 Posted on Wednesday, October 07, 2020 - 02:22 pm:    The results of the 4specs survey so far are here: http://www.4specs.com/survey_2020/data-all.pdf are more results come in I'll update this link. As of today there are 226 results. There is an interesting split in the first half primarily from a mailing I did (more specifiers) and a posting in Linkedin done a week later (more architects). I plan to summarize the differences later. There is a newsletter article to CSI Chapters with the link. Colin Gilboy Publisher, 4specs.com 702-505-9119 - Las Vegas Nathan Woods, CSI, CCCA, LEED AP Senior Member Username: nwoods Post Number: 828 Registered: 08-2005 Posted on Wednesday, October 07, 2020 - 02:25 pm:    Wow, that is so cool. The results to Q2 CLEARLY show the value of local representatives, with a combined 92.45% indicating that we rely on them Sometimes or Usually. That's huge!