Roofing/waterproofing and/or structur...

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Author Message David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 2038 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Monday, August 28, 2023 - 04:46 pm:    How many of you write roofing and waterproofing sections? How many of you write structural sections? David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap Senior Member Username: lgoodrob Post Number: 426 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Monday, August 28, 2023 - 05:06 pm:    David, I think the most important part of my job is roofing, air barriers, and waterproofing. I tell that to my architect-clients all the time. We never do structural engineering. I occasionally help the structural engineers with their sustainability language, but never technical content. - Phil Kabza Senior Member Username: phil_kabza Post Number: 771 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 - 09:45 am:    We write almost all of our project waterproofing and roofing sections. When there is a client or CM waterproofing consultant, we share our sections for their comments, which we usually find useful and incorporate. We only write structural sections for multifamily projects and then only when the SE doesn't (which is often). We then send to the SE for their comments, which we sometimes receive. SE notes on drawings are often inadequate and out of date, and they do not address administrative issues. Phil Kabza FCSI CCS AIA SpecGuy Specifications Consultants www.SpecGuy.com phil@specguy.com Lisa Goodwin Robbins, RA, CCS, LEED ap Senior Member Username: lgoodrob Post Number: 427 Registered: 08-2004 Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 - 10:12 am:    If structural engineers are in the room, I have some suggestions. I also get a lot of pushback from structural engineers who don't want to prepare their own specifications. Remember, it's your professional stamp, not mine. Make clear and concise generic base specifications and train your engineers to edit mostly through the drawing notes. Update the base language to allow tracking embodied carbon, and put the actual concrete mix formulas on the Drawings. Maybe this means more narrowscope sections, especially for mass timber and engineered lumber, but I think a little bit of upfront investment in quality and coordination will save lots of time on each subsequent project. - * not a structural engineer Loretta Sheridan Senior Member Username: leshrdn Post Number: 102 Registered: 11-2021 Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 - 10:24 am:    Lisa: Hear, hear! I have also gotten structural engineers who want us to send them the out-of-the-box specs so they can mark them up, and send them back to us to edit. I have a problem with this for two reasons: 1) If they don't want to take on the cost of subscribing to a service such as SpecLink or MasterSpec, they should draft their own to edit. 2) We should not be editing their specs even from their markups as I think it exposes us to added risk. I will not do it. David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 2039 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Tuesday, August 29, 2023 - 01:48 pm:    I used to write structural and roofing/waterproofing specifications. The consultants/engineers would mark up my specifications and I would make the edits. On a current job I grossly underestimated how long it would take to make edits. There was a lot of discussion back a forth on understanding the consultant's comments and there were a lot of comments. I know it is going to take me longer to write the structural and roofing/waterproofing sections then to write the rest of the architectural specifications. My philosophy is if the consultants/engineers drew their own drawings, then the consultant should write their own specifications. That way the consultant can control the products/installation, ensure coordination with their drawings, and most importantly take responsibility (liability) for their work. You would think that a structural engineer and building envelope consultant would not want to be liable if the architectural specifier made a mistake on their respective sections. I have not asked, but I bet my professional liability carrier would be uncomfortable with me writing other disciplines specifications, especially something as litigious and expensive as structural and roofing/waterproofing. David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Anne Whitacre (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted on Wednesday, September 06, 2023 - 02:08 pm:    We have structural in-house, so they do their own sections and when we hire outside structural they do their own sections. I have always written waterproofing, roofing and the associated sections. We often have a waterproofing consultant, but even in those cases, I write the baseline sections, they mark them up and we "discuss" what the changes should be. I'm the one who carries the office history with the products and we're more plugged into the rest of the project than the waterproofing consultant is. David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 2040 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, September 08, 2023 - 03:05 pm:    Has anyone asked their insurance companies if there liability insurance covers writing specifications for other disciplines? I send an email to my insurance agent and will report back. David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Steven Bruneel, Retired Architect Senior Member Username: redseca2 Post Number: 721 Registered: 12-2006 Posted on Friday, September 08, 2023 - 05:05 pm:    Frequently it is not the content of a good structural spec that engineers want to avoid but rather the simple document formatting, tracking revisions and managing headers and footers. Their own word processing skills are strictly hunt and peck and there is no one in their office to do it for them. They find designing high rise structures relaxing, but the thought of trying to edit a Masterspec gives them hives. It helps to know if this is the case. David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Senior Member Username: david_axt Post Number: 2041 Registered: 03-2002 Posted on Friday, September 08, 2023 - 08:04 pm:    Steven, I understand structural engineers reluctance to do the specifications, but the same could also be said about civil engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, landscape architects, etc. Maybe us specifiers should write all the sections in the entire project manual. David G. Axt, CDT, CCS, CSI, SCIP Specifications Consultant Axt Consulting LLC Mark Gilligan SE, Senior Member Username: mark_gilligan Post Number: 982 Registered: 10-2007 Posted on Saturday, September 23, 2023 - 09:06 pm:    I always provided my own structural specification sections but I believe I was the exception. Structural engineers are not trained to write construction specifications so they fall back on the general notes which they control. I have come across a number of architects that, without asking, provide structural master specifications. In at least one case the architect/spec writer complained when my markups required them to spend more time than they budgeted. While the engineer is often at fault regarding coordination of specifications many Architects are also at fault for providing structural specification sections and accepting the substitution of General Notes for specifications. The solution is for the engineer to know how to write a specification section not for the Architect or specification writer to write the structural sections.