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Specifications 101

It’s all about specs baby!

Presented by: James Corney

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Outline

PART 1 GENERAL

A. How does the spec fit in with other contract documents

PART 2 EXECUTION

A. How to write a spec

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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What are Specs?

Minimum Sampling and Testing

Measurement and Payment

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What are Specs?

Minimum Sampling and Testing

Measurement and Payment

Specifications

Plans

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

So taking the “role” aspect to make these concepts more relatable, let’s personify these things. The Measurement and Payment… is the accountant signing the checks, the MS&TR… is the Quality Control Manager making sure that the work performed is good, plans… are like an architect, they tend to focus on the end product and not about what it takes to get there, I didn’t have a great architect clipart, but this guy embodies “architect” to me, and the Specifications… are the Engineer, focused on taking an ideal end result and finding a way to make it work. And all together these roles communicate with the Contract or Contractor who turns ideas into reality. The specs aren’t fancy, but like any good engineer knows, what we do needs to work, it needs to “calc out.” And that is truly appropriate when we are talking about the specifications. But please realize, without these individuals working together, the project will not work properly. You need to know what you’re building, you need to know that it is going to work, and that it’s going to be built correctly and paid for. Each member of the team has their domain, and in order to properly coordinate with each other we need to respect their boundaries and expertise.

Image Credits:

Accountant: Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Accountant.svg

QC Manager: Free. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Curious_Cartoon_Businessman.svg

Engineer: Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Accountant_(10920)_-_The_Noun_Project.svg

Architect: Free. Image cropped (width reduced) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fashion_model_vahik.jpg

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What are Specs?

MS&TR

M&P

Specifications

Plans

Defines the Work process

Shows the final condition*

Establishes the testing for Acceptance

How the work is measured and paid

?

!

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

The Specifications and the Plans are usually described in the same breath. Specificationandplans… Because they work so closely together to show the final condition (asterisk) and define the work that needs to be performed to achieve that final condition. The asterisk is just there to mention that the plans do need to be constructible and may require showing constructible options. But as a general rule, if the described thing is related to the construction process, it belongs in the specifications, and if it is a description of what you want the constructed thing to be, it should be in the plans. I’ll focus on these contrasts as we continue though this presentation… The Minimum Sampling and Testing establishes the testing requirements for products installed in the work and determines if those products are good enough to be paid for… and of course the measurement and payment describes how the work is measured and paid. Design Engineers are often very focused on the plans, and can forget the roles of the specifications, MS&TR and M&P. In fact I think the MS&TR is something so obscure to the design engineer that they don’t know what it is… and because specifications are so complex they would rather shove work requirements into the M&P… instead of the specs. Something that technically doesn’t work, and could become a legal problem. At this point I’ve spoken about “work” as if everyone knows what that is. And hopefully you all actually do, but since this is the specs we are talking about. I want to get specific, and show exactly what is specified in the specifications.

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What is Work?

Work – The elements, activities, and incidentals necessary to complete a project (including labor, materials, equipment, and the interim products and stages attained in the course of reaching completion), and all alterations, amendments, or extensions made by change order or other written orders of the Engineer.

- Section 00570, Paragraph 1.7 A96

and incidentals

necessary to complete a project

The elements,

activities,

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Why is this Important?

MS&TR

M&P

Specifications

Plans

The Contract is a legal document

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

At this point I’ve spent a decent amount of time talking about these different roles. And I’ve tried to make it cute and understandable in a simple way. But why is this important? Because ultimately we’re not dealing with people… We’re dealing with robots. People can read between the lines, and share responsibility and make mistakes and laugh. Robots don’t laugh. If we place an item of work in the M&P instead of the specifications, and that item either isn’t paid for, or isn’t constructed correctly, then no ones laughing, except maybe the lawyers… Because the contract is a legal document. Mistakes and inconsistencies, if they are involved in major problems result in legal scrutiny. It’s not just a matter of saying “The Contractor will understand, ” because although that’s true 99 percent of the time, it’s the 1% that we design for.

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Pay Items

What things are we paying for?

Items or tasks
Example

029387010 – Tree Pruning

M&P is blank for this item
Work is shown in the Specifications

Pruning
disinfecting equipment
disposal of branches

02938

010

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

So now let’s move away from our characters and talk about money… after all money makes the world go round, you get what you pay for, and we pay for what we get. For the contract that means… Pay Items. Firmly under the ownership of Measurement & Payment… the pay items identify what things we are paying for. And I use the word “things” here on purpose… We are talking about items, or tasks... For example we could have an item for Tree Pruning. What do you think would be involved in that work? If you’re thinking “Pruning trees” you are only partially correct. The pay item is not intended to specify all of the work that needs to be done. It connects to the Measurement and Payment and the specification which provide more information. The M&P provides information on measurement and payment, and in this case… the M&P is completely blank for this pay item, which is totally fine and extremely normal. The work for this item is specified in the… specifications and includes, pruning, disinfecting equipment and disposal of branches along with other specific minutia about what the expectations are for that work to be performed correctly. So here’s the hypothetical. What if at this site we wanted the branches mulched and placed at the base of the trees. Where would that information go? Yeah you guessed it, this is the Specifications 101 session, it goes in the specification, because that is work to be performed. This connection to the specification is made through the 9 digit pay item number... The first 5 digits are the related specification, a direct link to the work requirements for that pay item. The following digit (the 7) was added after the major specification revision UDOT enacted in 2017… and the final 3 digits represent the individual pay item within the referenced specification. For tree pruning there is only one pay item, but that is often not the case.

Tree Pruning from the medieval Book of Hours circa 1390. Available from the National Library of Wales for Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pruning#/media/File:De_Grey_Hours_f.2.r._February_-_pruning_trees.jpg

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Pay Items

026107025 – Drainage Pipe - 17 inch x 13 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
026107027 – Drainage Pipe - 21 inch x 15 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
026107029 – Drainage Pipe - 24 inch x 18 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
026107031 – Drainage Pipe - 28 inch x 20 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
026107033 – Drainage Pipe - 42 inch x 29 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
026107035 – Drainage Pipe - 49 inch x 33 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
026107037 – Drainage Pipe - 57 inch x 38 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
026107039 – Drainage Pipe - 71 inch x 47 inch, Metal, Silt-Tight
…

Multiple Pay Items

Drainage Pipe
Remove Structure and Obstruction

02221780 – Remove Fence

The Specification describes the work to be performed
Content is engaged by the simple name of the pay item

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

Multiple pay items can direct to the same specification. This is pretty obvious for something like… Drainage Pipe which has something like 50 variations in size of pipe. But it also applies to work like… Remove Structure and Obstruction, where the name of each pay item engages just a portion of the specification. For example… 022217080 Remove Fence only engages Article 3.22 and any relevant connected portions of the spec. It doesn’t engage… Article 3.23 “Remove Tree” because that is a separate pay item 022217050 Remove Tree… So what I’m trying to say here is that the specification describes the work to be performed, and is engaged by the simple name of the pay item, of which there may be multiple for a single specification. It’s appropriate to do that, but the connection needs to be clear. But this also means that additions of work to existing specifications can be unclear.

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Pay Items

3.3 MULCHING

A. Mulch the branches

B. Spread the mulchings

029387020 – Mulch and Spread

1.1 SECTION INCLUDES

A. Removal, mulching and spreading, and

disposal of excess tree limbs

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Pay Items

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Award acceptance of the bid

Bid based on the bid items

Contract Amount

The summation of the products of the

quantities shown in the bid schedule multiplied by the

unit bid prices for the items in the Contractor’s bid proposal.

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

But that’s just tree pruning. For a project we need… a lot of pay items, because every piece of the work needs to be paid for and for it to be paid for there needs to be a pay item. And if you want that mulching done, it better be clearly included… And making sure that it is included is part of why spec writing is so important. We need to be diligent. I’ve been using the term “pay item” here instead of “Bid Item” because I like the direct link to payment and how serious a topic that is. They are essentially the same thing, except that the bid happens before contract award, and pay happens after. I take this moment to bring that up because, but a job is… awarded based on a bid, and that… bid is based on bid items, or pay items. Things may be shown in the plans, but unless they are tied to bid items, they are not included in the… Contract Amount. Which is defined as… “The summation of the products of the quantities shown in the bid schedule multiplied by the unit bid prices for the items in the Contractor’s bid proposal. This is it folks. This is why the specifications are so very important…

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Specifications are Important

If the work that we want is not specified and included in the bid items. It is not included in the project. Even if it’s drawn on the plans, or written in the M&P.

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Moving on to…

Specification Writing

Getting to know the UDOT specs

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Getting to know U… DOT Specifications

General Specifications

00100 – 01499

Technical Specifications

01500 – 16530

General Specifications apply to and govern the work of all Sections of the Specifications

- 00100, 1.7 A2a

Allow inspectors to inspect…

Correct defects…

(00727: Control of Work)

Allow the Department 14 calendar days to review…”

(01450: Submittals)

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

The UDOT Standard specifications are split into two ranges. There are the… General Specifications which have Section numbers less than 01500, and the… Technical Specifications which have section numbers at 01500 and greater. This is an important nuance for UDOT’s specifications, and something that was introduced back in 2017. But what are they?… well the “General Specifications apply to and govern the work of all Sections of the specifications.” – Section 00100 subparagraph 1.7 A2a. So when you are writing your technical specification remember that all of the stuff in the generals applies without reference. Like what you say? How about not needing to say… “allow inspectors to inspect,” or… “correct defects” since that is in 00727: Control of Work. Or not needing to say… “Allow the Department 14 calendar days for review” since that’s in 01450: Submittals. The general specifications provide a lot of information for the proper administration of the contract, and if you ever find yourself writing a reference back to those low numbered Sections, stop, those sections are already engaged, and making the reference anyway is detrimental as it begs the question “are the non-referenced Sections still applicable to this spec?” Technically yes, but we don’t want the confusion. Now I read the quote from… Section 00100 here. I highly recommend that everyone who is going to do any spec writing reads Section 00100: General Provisions. That one 7 page Section defines a lot of very fundamental information for the contract and spec writing. I will continue to make reference to Section 00100 as I continue through this presentation, but I really don’t want to just read 7 pages of text to you, so please take some time and make that relatively quick read.

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Getting to know UDOT Specifications

Pay

Item

Pay

Item

SECTION 02318S

UNIQUE DITCH CONSTRUCTION

(Section 00727, 1.10 B)

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(16:00) Another thing to think about is the nature of Standard Specifications. Unlike plans, which are made uniquely for each project. Standard Specifications stick around… This ties back to our previous discussion on pay items. The pay item activates the specification, this means we can have… hundreds of possible work tasks detailed out in the specifications but only the ones with… pay items actually activate. This is a caution to you to think about how the specification you write is going to fit into the larger standard, and not think about the specification as some simple extension of the project you have. Do not oversimplify writing your specification to add… unique aspects of work that are not clearly engaged through a pay item and shown in the plans, assuming it’s part of the final construction. I can hear the eye rolls saying. But I’m not writing “Standard Specifications” I’m writing Special Provisions. And while yes, that’s true… special provisions are not necessarily going to stick around from project to project, that doesn’t mean that we should reformat how specifications work or should be thought of as a simple sidelined task. Just writing project specific language and saying “do this” into the special provision, does not mean that it is automatically engaged if the pay item wasn’t properly connected. It’s also important to think about how serious those Special Provisions are to the project. Here… is Paragraph 1.10 B from Section 00727: Control of Work. As you can see, Special Provisions are the highest priority contract item for the purpose of conveying information to the project. Lack of attention here can be impactful. Not only that though, but we always want to think about progressing our special provisions toward standard. At the early stages of a special provision, that may seem like a far away long term goal, but special provisions tend to act as draft versions for future special provisions and if we can keep our eyes on the goal of moving toward standard, we should be able to improve the quality of our specifications use after use until they can become incorporated into an official standard. Sorry I slipped back in to talking about how important specifications are again. But it’s true. And now that you know how beautiful UDOT specifications are on the inside, I think it’s fair to show off how beautiful they are on the outside.

Ring: Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Valentine%27s_Day_-_Diamond_Ring.svg

Candy Ring: Picture taken by James Corney for this presentation

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Getting to know UDOT Specifications

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Getting to know UDOT Specifications

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

It’s the sheer amount of text on the page. I’m not saying that UDOT specifications don’t have as much information in them as other specifications, but the information provided is easier to read and understand. You might end up with 20 pages in a spec, but by using an outline format instead of a paragraph format the information you are looking for stands out more readily. To summarize this point... When you are writing UDOT specifications every line should be a single sentence or phrase and you need to consider if the point being made is a new concept or a subtopic to the previous one. This allows for an instant understanding when reading a UDOT specification that one point is related to another. In this case… these sleeves, are related to a condition of insufficient space, to maintain clearance, between stainless steel and other steel in which it might come in contact. This is a major clarity benefit, but has risks as well, as moving a line into or out of a parent heading can completely change its relevance to the specification. I’ll bring this point up again later, but think about the advantage this outline format has over paragraph formats as with the paragraph format there is only one major heading per article, so establishing relation and priority is a challenge. With that let’s move on to…

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The Parts

Part 1

1.1 Section Includes
1.2 Related Sections
1.3 References
1.4 Definitions
1.5 Submittals

- General

Part 2
Part 3

Not Used

Quality Assurance
Acceptance
Qualifications
Design Requirements

(Administrative)

(Paperworky)

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(21:15) The parts. Similar to how the specification book has two ranges. One for General and one for Technical, each specification has three parts. Part 1 is General and is mainly… administrative, administrative? Actually a better word at this point might be… “paperworky” and is itself broken into 5 required articles... These articles will show up in this order in every specification so that we have consistency and it’s easy to read. It’s serious enough that if there isn’t any content for of those these Articles, we write… “Not Used” after the header so that we maintain this sequence. I’ll get into what each of these five Articles are for, but I also want to mention that you aren’t limited to these five. As the spec writer you can add as many articles here as you need, as long as the focus is on Administrative, process paperworky things…. Like quality assurance requirements, acceptance, qualifications, and design requirements. So let’s go through these Articles one at a time.

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Part 1 – Section Includes

1.1 Section Includes

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

1.1 Section Includes. This is the very first piece of unique information within a specification and it is supposed to provide a quick grasp of what a spec is about… I’ve already spoken about the connection between the Section Includes article and the pay items and how important that is, and ultimately that’s what we talking about. You don’t need to get too wordy here as none of the content here is intended to direct the work. What this does is provide a descriptive link between the specification and the pay item and introduce the content of the specification to the reader… “Deck drain pipe extension” sounds really simple and it’s supposed to be. It’s a quick snapshot that shows what the spec is about. Any content in the specification that is relevant to deck drain pipe extension is going to be incorporated into that pay item.

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Part 1 – Related Sections

1.2 Related Sections

SUPER IMPORTANT

“Say it once and in the most logical location”

- Ray Cook

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

Next up Related Sections. This one is… super important. The specifications are not independent documents. The book works together as an interconnected whole. This allows us to… say things once and in the most logical location. When we make a reference to another section what we are actually doing is incorporating all of the relevant information and requirements from that specification into this one, or more accurately, into this pay item. In this example… Article 2.5 specifies Class AA(LS) Concrete and then… refers back to Section 03055. Any reference in the specification must have… a corresponding paragraph in 1.2 Related Sections. This is the summary which shows how interconnected a specification is. Having this reference then means that all of the requirements of Section 03055 related to Class AA(LS) concrete are included in the cost of this pay item. To provide a little more context to this concept, realize that Section 03055: Portland Cement Concrete, doesn’t even have a related pay item. The only way the requirements of 03055 are engaged, and the work associated with that concrete is paid for is through these related specifications. So thinking about how… Super Important this is. That means that even if referencing another section would provide nice background for a task covered by this pay item. Do not make that official reference.

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Part 1 – Related Sections

1.2 Related Sections

“Say it once and in the most logical location”

- Ray Cook

Refer to Section 02741.

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Part 1 – References

1.3 References

SUPER IMPORTANT

(Paperworky)

“Perfection is the enemy of progress.”

- Winston Churchill

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

Next up 1.3 references… I wanted to make the joke that EVERYTHING is super important, but I just can’t get my excitement for specifications to that point. The References are simply a index to any external document mentioned in the specification. It can be nice to have an up front collection of referenced documents, but even I have to admit that this is slightly… paperworky. That being said, it’s a lovely collection of the references used by the spec and can give a heads up that the spec will contain welding requirements or design considerations. And yes, I have made a note that my references in this spec are not in… alphabetical order. “Perfection is the enemy of progress.” We’ll get it fixed, like all of the specs and special provisions, we need to be aware of the desire for forward progress and getting better and better standards.

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Part 1 – Definitions

1.4 Definitions

Definition (n): A statement expressing the essential nature of something.

- Merriam-Webster

A. Dry Mix Process – Shotcrete production process in which a water cement ratio of no more than 0.40 is applied at the nozzle.

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

1.4 Definitions… This article is rarely used, but can be quite use full in certain situations. It’s rarely used in part because the Specifications already have… an entire Definitions Section which because the section number is less than 1500 means that it applies to all specifications. But it’s also rarely used because it’s simply not that often that we need to define terms. But sometimes we do... and when we do it’s important to understand the limitations of article 1.4... Merriam Webster defines the definition of definition as “A statement expressing the essential nature of something.” That is to say that here in Article 1.4 when you are providing a definition you are just expressing the essential nature of the term when it is used elsewhere, you are not exactly providing work requirements. There is a bit of interpretation here, as this provides the essential nature of a term which is used in specifying requirements, but please… try to avoid placing technical work requirements in 1.4 instead of in a more relevant part of the specification… The definitions should focus more on clarity than requirements. In this example providing a specified maximum water cement ratio in the definition would not be appropriate.... That limitation should be shown in Part 2.

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Part 1 – Submittals

1.5 Submittals

SUPER IMPORTANT

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

Okay 1.5 Submittals… Back to super important. This is where we list everything that needs to be delivered to the Engineer, either looking for the Engineer’s input or for the Engineer to record. Any time the specification indicates that the Engineer needs to be contacted for any reason, there needs to be some sort of submittal included. Section 1.5 is where the RE turns in order to know what communication is needed for a spec. Now this is one of those places I mentioned earlier as having a strong connection to the General Specifications… Specifically Section 01450: Submittals provides general, universally applicable, information on how submittals are submitted. For example… Drawings should be on 11x17 sheets submitted as PDFs. And a professional engineering seal is required for calculations and drawings based on calculations.

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Part 1 – Submittals

1.5 Submittals

Permission to shoot varmints with a BB gun, for approval.

REJECTED

Approval
Review
Information

Don’t require submittals for approval.

Require submittals for review

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

It also provides three major categories for submittals… Submittals for approval, submittals for review and submittals for information. This is a topic that confuses a lot of people, so I hope that we can get this idea across to you all here, but know that if tomorrow you forgot what I said here, this information is in the General specifications. So let’s start from the top. Submittals for Approval. When you say “for approval” on a submittal in your technical specification… Like “permission to shoot varmints with a BB gun, for approval” it automatically engages general specification 01450… where submittals for approval requirements are specified. Here we can see that submittals for approval provide… 14 calendar days for Department review. So unless you want to change the review period duration, saying nothing more than “for approval” will get the Department 14 days. Section 01450 also says that work can… not proceed until approval is received and gives the Department the authority to rescind approval if warranted. These statements that I’ve highlighted are things that designers tend to like to add to specifications, because they are important. But now you know, that these things are so important that you don’t need to say them. They are already written down. But now that I’ve shown you how easy it is to require a submittal for approval. I want to follow it up by saying… don’t require submittals for approval, require them for review. Why? It’s technical.

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Part 1 – Submittals

1.5 Submittals

Approval
Review
Information

Approved
Authorized

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(31:15) Submittals for Approval can be… approved, and submittals for review can be… authorized. I’ll get to submittals for information later… Now these two terms have specific definitions in Section 00570: Definitions. I’ll start with the review/Authorize definition… If something has been authorized it has received “Formal conditional determination by the Engineer that a particular matter or item designed or produced by others may be used. Such determination may be based on reasonable and accepted engineering principles typical for the work produced. Authorization does not relieve the Contractor from responsibility for negligent acts, errors, correctness of details, conformance to the contract, and the successful completion of the work.” I assume that was super clear and you all got the nuance of that from a quick reading, but to justify my time up here I’m going to simplify. When something is authorized… the Engineer gives permission for the submittal to be… used and work to proceed. And this permission is based on the content and quality of the Contractor’s submittal and… a reasonable engineering review. And in the end we all understand that the submittal was… developed by the Contractor and… reviewed for contract conformance. In general this is what I think we all expect from an RE review. The problem is that in the English language we like to say that the RE generally “approves” of our decisions. But Approval is a very different thing.

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Part 1 – Submittals

1.5 Submittals

Approval
Review

Approved
Authorized

Permission to shoot varmints with a BB gun, for approval.

Plan for the relocation of migratory varmint nests during the specified relocation window, for review.

REJECTED

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

Approval is the “Formal conditional determination by the Engineer that a particular matter or item is satisfactory for the project. Such determination may be based on requirements beyond those set forth in the contract and may reflect preferences by the Department. Items approved are considered to be as-if part of Department design.” This one is more plainly written than authorization, but I’ll use different words again anyway. What makes approval so wrong for most decisions is that here the… Engineer makes a unilateral decision that doesn’t need… to meet any preexisting conditions of the contract and doesn’t even need a basis for the decision aside from… preference. In the end because it’s not based on the existing contract the approval process is what incorporates it into the contract and makes it.. a Department design decision instead of a Contractor proposed solution. So… “permission to shoot varmints with a BB gun?” Yeah that’s probably an approval thing because that’s not going to be in the standard contract…. And we’ll definitely say no regardless of the preference of the Engineer... But Plan for the relocation of migratory varmint nests during the specified relocation window. That’s would be, for review.

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Part 1 – Submittals

1.5 Submittals

Approval
Review
Information

when possible

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

Okay and finally we have “for information.” Submittals for information are probably about what you’d expect them to be… They’re very simple. There is no time component for a formal review and there is no waiting for authorization before work can proceed, but the submittal is supposed to be provided to the Engineer before incorporating into the project, I’ll say… “when possible” here since we sometimes have submittals for records that would only occur after the work has been performed. But an important point for “for information” submittals is that like all project submittals, once it’s given to the Engineer it will be looked at it for general compliance. If it’s non-conforming to the contract the Engineer can require repair or replacement or whatever is necessary for contract conformance, but usually we hold for information submittals to those elements that we feel confident will not cause a contract conformance issue. One final comment on Submittals. Remember Part 1 is all about paperwork. So the submittals, being in part 1 are the paperwork requirements of a submittal. What do you want to see submitted?

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Part 1 – Submittals

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(36:00) For example. Here’s a shotcrete mix design and test result submittal. Not really the point of this slide, but it is for approval because the Department approves mix designs based on performance in trial batches. It’s kind of a unique situation. Anyway. The actual point here is that there IS a preconstruction test panel that must provide information for the mix design to be approved… The paperwork requirements of that test are included here in Part 1… But the actual in the field action of the test itself is in Part 3 – Execution. In these situations where some sort of action in the field is tied to a submittal, it can be very easy to overlook the fact that the requirements for what seems like a single event need to be broken into two places. The paperwork goes in Part 1, and the action goes in Part 3.

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The Parts

Part 1

1.1 Section Includes
1.2 Related Sections
1.3 References
1.4 Definitions
1.5 Submittals

- General

Quality Assurance
Acceptance
Qualifications
Design Requirements

(Paperworky)

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Part 2 - Products

Part 2 - Products

Cement
Expansion Joints
Precast Prestressed Girder

Non-Proprietary
Generally performance based

(things used on site)

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Part 2 - Products

Proprietary

Specifies brand names, model numbers, uniquely from a single source
Prescriptive and Restrictive

Performance

Describes required results and criteria by which performance will be verified
Nonrestrictive by nature
Opens for competition

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Part 2 - Products

BOOM

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Part 2 - Products

ASTM, formerly known as:

the American Society for Testing and Materials

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(40:00) ASTM, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials provides standards by which materials are tested. Let’s look at ASTM C595 for blended cements… In order to meet the requirements of the specification to be a Type II equivalent the cement must meet the requirements of ASTM C595 for IP(MS) material. IP materials have certain chemical requirements and certain tested physical requirements, but for simplicity what I’m showing on the screen are the… MS requirements which are physical tested criteria which establish a product as meeting the performance requirements of an MS material. Now because of the very specific chemical requirements I acknowledge that am toeing the line on what a performance based spec is here, but most ASTMs are not so restrictive. Let’s look at an expansion joint instead. That sort of product will be much more common to the development of specifications.

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Part 2 - Products

Look at products on the market and review the published technical data sheets

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

This is from Section 05831 Compression Joint Seal and provides the performance requirements for a Compression Joint Seal Type A. The requirements are that the product meets certain baseline minimums and provides ASTM criteria where applicable. It is then up to the manufacturer of the product to meet the performance requirements stated in the specification. But how do we set these numbers? In general you’re going to want to look at what products are on the market… Take a look at multiple product technical data sheets, and then using experience and engineering judgement determine what properties are appropriate and commonly presented on the sheets. Please realize that it is very difficult for product suppliers to provide specific testing for one DOT. So if you want to supply a performance based criteria for a property that isn’t commonly published, we are unlikely to get it. The manufacturer might lose money getting the test versus just not getting the job.

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Part 2 - Products

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Part 3 - Execution

Part 3 - Execution

Site preparation
Installation or application
Tolerances / Quality Control
Post-installation cleaning and protection

Common to start writing with Part 3
Remember Parts 1 and 2 support and feed Part 3

(work on site)

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

I don’t think it would be too outlandish to say that all the work that is done in Part 1 and Part 2 is just buildup for Part 3. Part 3 is the Execution part… this is work on site. And this is likely where you will spend the most of your time and focus when writing a specification, but it’s also the part which probably feels the most natural as you think about how you would like to see the pay item… prepared, constructed and protected. As engineers we have an innate talent for understanding our physical world. So, in general writing specifications is something we are fully capable of. This is why I wanted to spend so much of our time here in this session talking about Parts 1 and 2. Because that’s the paperwork stuff and the off site stuff that I don’t think we are as comfortable writing toward… It is very appropriate when writing your specifications, to start with part 3, and focus on the work that needs to get done, and then when you hit something that sounds like paperwork or a submittal, jump back to part 1 to get make sure it’s connected. Or when you have a product to jump back to part 2 and get the details written in… Remember Parts 1 and 2 support and feed Part 3, so remember to jump back to those sections to make sure that they are adequately developed for the execution to go smoothly.

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Part 3 - Execution

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Specification Writing

XKCD.com

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(45:00) I love fractals, but they freak my wife out. Anyway. now let’s move away from the general and maybe not so general description of the specifications and move on to the words on the page, specification writing. I am going to pass out a little handout that provides some recommendations for things to be aware of and think about while writing UDOT specifications. I’ll be talking about that sheet a lot as we finish out today’s presentation… Please keep those handouts I think they can be very helpful to anyone writing specifications. Some of this content I’ve already discussed in the general discussion of the specs so far. I’ll try to go through this quickly and just focus on things that I think could use a little more explanation.

XKCD comics: Creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 license https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/1179/

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Specification Writing

General

Consistency and usefulness is important.

Your selection of the lexicon placed on the charter that is this regulatory document may exemplify your erudite perspicacity but should rather be selected for their pedantic generality.

Use simple consistent language in the specification.

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

So starting with the General things at the top… Consistency is important. It may seem like a lot of specification writing is rules for the sake of rules. But that’s not the case. We are trying to maintain consistency and usefulness of the specs. Being consistent allows for easier reading and understanding of the specifications as a whole. I could say… “Your selection of the lexicon placed on the charter that is this regulatory document may exemplify your erudite perspicacity but should rather be selected for their pedantic generality.” or… “Use simple consistent language in the specification.” Sometimes that means that we pick the words for you, but that’s because those words have meaning and we want to be consistent. And yes the work involved in writing a consistent specification can be a bit annoying…

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Specification Writing

General

Do not justify inconsistencies with "the RE has the authority to do whatever they want.“

Building a culture where the specifications don’t matter

Specifications are written to the Contractor.

Do not use the specifications to speak directly to subcontractors, the RE, Inspectors, etc.

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Style

Each line of the specification �should be one sentence or �phrase
Use active voice.

Start with verbs
Don’t use “shall”

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

So now let’s move into the style category… As I said before, UDOT specs should be written with one sentence or phrase per line. It might seem awkward at first, but it really helps to organize the content for clarity and easy understanding. Make sure you think about what goes under a header… if it is related information under a topic or if it is of equivalent importance… Remember, Information that is placed under a header is not applicable to a different header of equivalent priority… Each of those lines should also be written with active voice. That generally means that you should try to start each line with a verb… like “Prepare, Give, Provide, Sign,” but it’s not a hard and fast rule. The point is to be direct and clear in your communication and set expectations… We do not want to use the word “shall” for this since that is not a strong and direct word.

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Style

Common words

Calendar days
New / Existing

Working Days - Any calendar day except holidays, or days restricted in the contract.

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

Next up common words… We recommend that you use the term “calendar days” instead of “working days.” In Section 00570: Definitions, we have a specific definition for… “working days – Any calendar day except holidays, or days restricted in the contract.” Remember who the specifications are written to. They are written to the Contractor. It can be very easy when writing a spec to think of the number of working days for a government employee, and if you want to sign a petition to try to get Halloween off for government employees I’d be on board. But the working days here, are the contract working days for the Contractor who may work any day except those which are restricted by the contract. It’s much easier to think in terms of calendar days… Then there is “New” and “Existing.” In general try to avoid these words unless there is a specific situation where you need to make a distinction between what is new and what is existing. What is being placed or installed is likely new, and that is already understood, we don’t need to describe the new pothole patch in an existing header next to the existing expansion joint. Okay. Now if you’re following along on your handouts, I am going to jump to the third page to talk more about style choices and specific words and symbols.

Pothole Patch – Photo taken by the presenter James Corney

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Style

Common words

Calendar days
New / Existing
Ensure
“in the plans”

As shown in the plans

Weak direction, but strong expectation.
Use words like “verify” or “monitor”

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(52:00) So the next one to talk about is “Ensure.” Similar to “shall”… Ensure isn’t a word that provides strong direction, but it does provide a strong expectation. Which can be very difficult for contract enforcement. Rather than using “Ensure” use words that connect direction to action… like “verify” or “monitor.” On your handout I called this the Search and Resolve section because finding these naughty words is easy, but it isn’t as simple as pasting a direct replacement. You will often need to rethink how you are going to ask for what you need. Another Style word is… “in the plans.” I recommend searching for these words because this is usually in the phrase… “as shown in the plans.” But the term “shown” is a good word and has already been defined in Section 00100… where “shown” means “shown in the plans.” So repeating that phrase is unnecessary. Additionally, although less commonly used, “Specified” means specified in the specifications, and “described” means described in the contract. You might end up using those, so I want you to be aware that this definition exists, but shown really is the most commonly used of these three. Continuing down the list we have a few “simple language” words.

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Style

Common words

Calendar days
New / Existing
Ensure
“in the plans”

Prior to
Maximum
Minimum

- Before

- No more than

- No less than

Max and Min can still be used in data tables

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Style

Common words

Units

6 inch
10 ft
20,000 lb
150 percent

All / Any

6 in

Prune all trees shown
Prune trees shown

Relocate any varmints found
Relocate varmints found

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

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Substance

Work in referenced specs are paid for from this specs pay item

Make the connection clear with similar wording

Assign an action for submittals

Review / Approval / Information
Article 1.5 is for the paperwork submittal

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

This is page 2 of your handout and a lot of this we’ve already spoken about... We spoke about how pay items are linked to the specification and how we should only add references to other sections if the referenced work is included in this pay item, and when you do make that reference to incorporate the work from that specification, make sure the words you’ve used match the name of the work in the other specification. This is best when there is an actual article title that you can reference… We’ve also spoken about submittal types, if I didn’t mention it before, please remember to assign a submittal type to all of your submittals in Article 1.5. Without an assigned type, the Contractor won’t know what they are responsible to do and what the timing of that submittal is, and remember the content in article 1.5 is for the paperwork submittal. There may be other tasks associated with the submittal whether it is determining the qualifications for an individual, or performing quality control at a fabrication site, or determining the need for varmint control on site. The non-paperwork information associated with the submittal needs to be housed in a separate article in Parts 1, 2 or 3 as appropriate.

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Substance

Avoid “unless shown otherwise” unless you’re sure

Deviation requests are a viable method to alter contract requirements

Avoid “as directed by the Engineer”

Use “as determined by the Engineer”

directed

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

(57:00*) Now let’s talk about some things to avoid…. Avoid saying “unless shown otherwise” unless you are sure that there are alternates that are regularly shown. What we are trying to avoid here is the expectation that there is some commonly approved alternate procedure floating around somewhere. This can lead to confusion if the common expectation is to simply meet the written specification. Please remember that… deviation requests are a viable method to alter contract requirements, adding an unless shown otherwise type statement can open the door to providing an alternate without requiring a deviation, but you need to think about whether or not lowering that barrier is necessary or even a good thing…. Next one is to avoid using “as directed by the Engineer.” Instead you should use “as determined by the Engineer.” There is a subtle but very important difference here… Directed is a term that indicates that the Engineer is providing a new requirement that is outside of the current contract requirements. This can lead to a change order. Determined on the other hand simply means that the Engineer is making a decision within the limits of the contract and supplying required information to proceed. So do not use “direction” unless again, you mean it.

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Substance

Avoid setting temperature limitations including�“and rising” or “and falling”

Example: “Temperature above freezing and rising”
Temperature above freezing for at least �eight hours after beginning placement

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25

And then how about this for a final specific requirement. Avoid setting temperature limitations including “and rising” or “and falling” This has been a pretty common shorthand for wanting to make sure that temperatures are acceptable for certain types of work. But although… having a temperature above freezing and rising seems like it makes sense. It’s because the mental image presumes that we are just transitioning out of a freezing condition and then rising. The literal… robot wording on the page says that the temperature must be rising, so a nice summer afternoon. Totally fine for the work, but doesn’t meet spec because the temperature is 101 degrees and falling. Rather than using this language speak to the anticipated duration above the required temperature. Say something like… “Temperature above freezing for at least eight hours after beginning placement.”

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Thank you!

Presented by: James Corney

JCorney@Utah.gov

Specifications 101 | 2022-10-25