| Author |
Message |
Helaine K. Robinson CCS
Senior Member
Username: hollyrob
Post Number: 40
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 11:22 am: |    |
John Regener recently posted that he is working on a new 5th Edition of Harold Rosen's textbook "Construction Specifications Writing." I am currently teaching one section of a course in specification writing at Northern Kentucky University using the 4th Edition of this textbook. Our CSI chapter president is teaching the other section. Many of us on 4specs may be teaching from this book. Let's point out errors and inconsistencies in the 4th Edition and post suggestions for the 5th Edition here!
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Anonymous
| | Posted on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 12:19 pm: | |
A little late. Book is at publisher. |
Helaine K. Robinson CCS
Senior Member
Username: hollyrob
Post Number: 41
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Friday, February 20, 2004 - 01:58 pm: | |
Darn. I didn't know that a 5th Edition was in the works until I saw it posted here. I hope that the retail price is less than the $90 which my students paid for the 4th Edition. I hope that the 5th Edition has much clearer study questions and fewer opinions. |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
New member
Username: johnregener
Post Number: 1
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Monday, February 23, 2004 - 08:49 pm: | |
The 5th edition of Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Procedures is not quite yet at the publisher. It will be submitted VERY soon.
Comments would be welcome. Contact John Regener, AIA, CCS at his address listed on the SCIP website or the CSI member directory.
The 5th edition is a major update with much new material.
The pubisher sets the sales price; the authors have no control over it.
Study questions will be handled by separate publication.
"fewer opinions"? This is a book about construction specifications and specifications writers, architects and engineers. With CSI publishing the Project Procedures Manual (or whatever it will be called) to replace the Manual of Practice, there will no longer be a "one true way" to prepare construction specifications. However, CSW5 is very consistent with the MOP. It includes many more examples from practice to illustrate how the principles and procedures work.
(Note: the CSI Manual of Practice uses text from CSW.)
-- John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
co-author with Harold Rosen, PE, Hon CSI
Construction Specifications: Principles and Procedures, 5th Edition |
Ralph Liebing
Senior Member
Username: rliebing
Post Number: 57
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 07:20 am: | |
Mr. Regener-- may I inquire if the 5th edition will provide more direct "spec writing" per se, in addition to the general description and principles that Mr. Rosen has so well set out in the current edition? |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Junior Member
Username: johnregener
Post Number: 2
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 11:27 am: | |
Short(form) answer: yes
Longform answer: One needs to know all that bidding and contract stuff and also some stuff about how to evaluate products, which CSW has and will provide information concerning. Through examples, it is hoped that the ties to actual specifications and the production of specifications will be clear and usable. There will be more examples -- some of which will require the specifier to use professional judgment to choose and adapt.
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Ralph Liebing
Senior Member
Username: rliebing
Post Number: 58
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - 11:46 am: | |
Thank you, Mr. Regener-- do you have a production schedule, or "books in warehouse" date from Wiley as yet? |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Member
Username: johnregener
Post Number: 3
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, February 26, 2004 - 11:40 am: | |
I don't know when the book will be available for purchase. I do know that Wiley wants it to be as soon as possible. |
Helaine K. Robinson CCS
Senior Member
Username: hollyrob
Post Number: 45
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 10:58 am: | |
Here are some of my concerns about the 4th Edition:
Although the book may have been written for multiple audiences, Mr. Rosen's critiques of MasterFormat and SectionFormat are just plain confusing for the undergraduate construction technology students in my class. I don't always agree with Mr. Rosen's opinions, they are not consistent with my education and experience as a specifier in Indiana and Ohio.
My students are confused by the study questions -occasionally they even flummox me! Due to this, and because answers to all questions are in the back of the book, I have composed clearer questions for use on quizzes and exams.
I would much prefer to teach directly from the CSI MOP.
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(Unregistered Guest)
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 11:14 am: | |
CSW5 is more consistent with CSI format standards ... at least those currently published. Not knowing what the "new & improved & concise & comprehensive" CSI Project Resource Manual - Manual of Practice will be, CSW5 relies on the 1996 edition of the MOP (a considerable portion of which relied upon Harold Rosen's writings in previous editions of CSW).
The study questions were determined to be inadequate. Questions and exercises will be addressed separately from CSW5 ... eventually. My suggestion is that the CDT, CCS and CCCA Study Guides have good material for developing materials for homework, quizzes and exams.
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John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: john_regener
Post Number: 151
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2004 - 12:24 pm: | |
Sorry ... I'm having problems with automatically logging into 4specs. The preceeding message was by me.
/John Regener, AIA, CCS |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 10:46 pm: | |
Dear Mr. Reggenher,
Do you think that buying the 5th edition of Mr. Rosen's book (I have one of the earlier edition and it is not very helpful as it doesn't have full sections such as for shower heads and shower drains) would help?
Thank you in advance. |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: john_regener
Post Number: 153
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 16, 2004 - 11:30 pm: | |
If you are looking for resources for construction specifications, the 5th edition of CSW will identify several. If you want to learn about construction specifications writing, the 5th edition will be a useful text. If you want example specifications for such things as shower heads and shower drains, I suggest that you subscribe to one of the shortform specifications masters; CSW5 won't provide what you are looking for. |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: john_regener
Post Number: 195
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 10:26 pm: | |
Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Procedures, 5th Edition has just been published by John Wiley & Sons.
ISBN: 0-471-43204-0
Paperback
448 pages (up from 352 pages)
November 2004
US $80.00
It may be purchased through the John Wiley & Sons website (http://www.wiley.com). Search for the book by the author's name (Harold J Rosen) or by the ISBN number above.
The price has been reduced to $80 from $90 because the 5th edition is published in soft cover rather than hard cover. The page count has increased by 96 pages and much of that is due to the inclusion of AIA and EJCDC sample documents and examples of outline specifications, Preliminary Project Description, and shortform version of Division 1 - General Requirements.
Instructors at colleges and universities should contact John Wiley & Sons for an evaluation copy.
Constructive comments are welcome directly to me: !regener@cox.net (remove the !) |
Dennis Hall
Intermediate Member
Username: dennis_hall
Post Number: 4
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 11:15 am: | |
John:
CSI currently has the 5th edition included as a resourse for the Construction Documents Education Program (CDEP) set to be released by the end of December. We have gone to a great deal of trouble to ensure that the new educational program is compliant with the PRM and MasterFormat 2004. The CDEP will include instructor notes, a PowerPoint presentation, and student handout for each of the ten sessions.
Some of your comments like "Division 1" vs "Division 01" and "Bidding and Negotiations" vs "Construction Procurement" give rise to concern that the 5th edition is not compliant with the new CSI documents. Can you clarify this for me?
CSI is also getting ready to complete the new Construction Specifier Educational documents in the early part of 2005 and no doubt would consider your book a resource document. This educational documents will be similar to the CDEP. The Construction Administration educational document will soon follow. |
Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: lazarcitec
Post Number: 60
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 08:34 pm: | |
architecturebookdeals.com has the 5th edition for $60.90. This is a reliable site as I have purchased several books recently. |
Jerome J. Lazar, RA, CCS, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: lazarcitec
Post Number: 61
Registered: 05-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 08:46 pm: | |
Bot the book for $66.50 with shipping...looking forward to adding it to my reference library. |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: john_regener
Post Number: 196
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 06:18 pm: | |
Response to Dennis Hall --
The 5th edition of Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Procedures was written concurrently with the major revisions to MasterFormat and the reformatted/revised Project Resource Manual - CSI Manual of Practice. Neither of these were available in early 2004 when CSW5 was completed. The period from Spring 2004 to Fall 2004 was spent on final editing and rewriting was not possible to include the sort of terminology changes that you noted.
I believe the core matters --- construction specifications writing --- are consistent with the former CSI Manual of Practice. The PRM is supposed to have all the material from the former MOP but organized according to the life cycle of projects. I am unaware, not having gone through the copy of the PRM that I purchased recently, what variances there may be and whether those variances in CSW5 are matters of professional judgment, preference or deviant thinking.
Again, constructive comments are welcome and, when writing of the 6th edition begins (~ mid-2006), will be considered.
Of course, we can yack about comments and concerns in this and other forums before then. |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: john_regener
Post Number: 197
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Monday, November 29, 2004 - 06:23 pm: | |
Response to Jerome Lazar --
One criticism that I've received about CSW5 is that it has too much information. That's because I considered it's use as a reference book and not just a primer on spec writing. Inclusion of AIA and EJCDC documents, with the generous permission of both of these organizations, makes CSW5 a handy reference to the General Conditions published by AIA and EJCDC. |
Helaine K. Robinson CCS
Senior Member
Username: hollyrob
Post Number: 117
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 02:02 pm: | |
I just received my inspection copy. Thanks for including a sample version of the full EJCDC General Conditions. |
Ralph Liebing
Senior Member
Username: rliebing
Post Number: 122
Registered: 02-2003
| | Posted on Monday, December 27, 2004 - 02:55 pm: | |
My copy is a little "sooty" from S.C. bringing it down the chimney!!
Need to apologize to you for cheating you on the royalty as I got my copy through the authors' "deal" that Wiley has on.
Excited to see all the new goodies, inside. Thanks for the effort to be even better! |
John Regener, AIA, CCS, CCCA, CSI, SCIP
Senior Member
Username: john_regener
Post Number: 210
Registered: 04-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, April 16, 2005 - 04:22 pm: | |
Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Procedures, 5th Edition (ISBN: 0-471-43204-0) was published by John Wiley & Sons in November 2004.
It will be available for sale in the CSI Bookstore on the floor of the CSI Show, April 20-22, 2005. I will be in the CSI Show Bookstore for book signing on Thursday April 21 from 2:00pm to 3:30pm.
A story about Harold Rosen, the original author of the book, is going to appear in the April 20 edition of CSI NewsBrief, CSI's free e-newsletter (see a sample issue or subscribe at www.smartbrief.com/csi).
The story also will be in the News & Events area of the Institute's website, www.csinet.org.
Review comments about the book are welcome, so that improvements may be made in the 6th edition (in a couple of years). There's a review of the book on Amazon.com that is pretty erroneous. Reviews by knowledgeable readers, posted on Amazon.com and other sources, would be appreciated.
I'd very much like to hear from those using the book as a text in a college or university class and also those in the engineering disciplines who have read the book and applied the principles and procedures. |
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