Specifications and schedules

Drawings show what goes where. They do not have room to say exactly what each thing is made of, what quality it must be, how it must be installed and tested, or what paperwork has to be handed in. That information lives in the specifications, a book of written requirements that is just as much a part of the contract as the drawings. Schedules, the tables that appear on the drawings themselves, fill the gap between the two by listing the properties of items that repeat throughout the building, such as doors, finishes, fixtures and equipment.

Many apprentices never open the specifications. That is a mistake. When Luis is asked what kind of pipe to use for the domestic water risers on Kingsway Tower, or how long a pressure test must hold, he does not guess or rely on what the last job did. He opens the specification section for domestic water piping and reads it.

The project manual

The specifications are bound, along with the contract forms and other documents, in a volume called the project manual. On a large project it may run to more than a thousand pages, divided into many volumes or delivered as searchable files. A typical project manual contains:

• Bidding requirements and the contract forms, such as the standard Canadian construction contract, often a CCDC 2 stipulated price contract, with its general conditions and the owner's supplementary conditions.
• Division 01, General Requirements, which applies to every trade: how the work is administered, submittals, quality control, temporary facilities, site cleanliness, and closeout and commissioning.
• The technical specification sections, one for each type of work, organized by a standard numbering system.
• Appendices such as geotechnical reports, hazardous materials surveys of existing buildings and reports from other consultants.

MasterFormat

Specifications in Canada and the United States are organized using MasterFormat, a numbering system published jointly by Construction Specifications Canada and the Construction Specifications Institute. MasterFormat divides construction work into divisions numbered 00 to 49, each covering a broad type of work, with some numbers held in reserve for future use. Many Canadian projects also use the National Master Specification, a master library of specification sections written for Canadian conditions, which follows the MasterFormat numbering.

Each section has a six-digit number in three pairs, getting more specific from left to right. For example, 22 11 16 is Domestic Water Piping: 22 is the plumbing division, 22 11 is facility water distribution, and 22 11 16 is the piping itself. Section 26 05 19 covers low-voltage electrical power conductors and cables, and 07 84 00 covers firestopping. Some sections add a further level with a decimal point. Because the numbers are standard, a plumber can find domestic water piping in section 22 11 16 on almost any commercial project.

Firestopping deserves a special mention. Division 07 contains the firestopping section, which applies to every trade that makes a penetration through a fire-rated wall or floor. It usually requires firestop systems tested to a specific standard and installed exactly as their listing shows, and it may say which trade is responsible for firestopping its own penetrations. On Kingsway Tower, each trade firestops its own penetrations, so Maya and Sam both need to read section 07 84 00, not just their own divisions.

The three parts of a section

Every specification section is written in the same three-part format, which makes it quick to find what you need once you know the pattern.

• Part 1, General. The scope of the section, related sections, reference standards, submittals required (product data, shop drawings, samples), quality assurance, delivery and storage, and warranty.
• Part 2, Products. The materials and equipment: acceptable manufacturers, product types, materials, sizes, ratings and accessories. This is where you find, for example, which pipe material is allowed for each system.
• Part 3, Execution. How to install the products: examination of conditions before starting, preparation, installation methods, tolerances, field testing, adjusting, cleaning and protection.

For the trades, Part 2 and Part 3 are where most of the useful information is. Part 2 tells you what to install, and Part 3 tells you how to install it and how it will be tested and inspected.

How specifications and drawings work together

Specifications and drawings are meant to be read together, not separately. A common way to explain the difference is that drawings show the quantity, location and arrangement of things, while specifications describe their quality, materials and installation methods. A drawing shows a 75 mm or 3 in domestic water riser in a shaft; the specification says it is type L copper with soldered joints, insulated with a certain thickness, supported at certain spacings and tested to a certain pressure.

Sometimes they disagree. Contracts deal with this in different ways:

• The CCDC 2 general conditions set an order of precedence for the contract documents. Among other rules, the specifications take precedence over the drawings, drawings of larger scale govern over those of smaller scale of the same date, dimensions shown take precedence over scaled measurements, and later dated documents govern over earlier ones.
• Whatever the contract says, a conflict should be reported, not quietly resolved by picking the cheaper or easier option. Lesson 12 explains how questions are raised through requests for information.

In practice, many apparent conflicts are not conflicts at all. The drawings may show a generic fixture symbol while the specification names the exact product, or the general notes may say something more specific applies in certain rooms. Reading both before asking saves time for everyone.

Products, basis of design and substitutions

Part 2 of a section often names products in one of several ways, and the wording matters:

• A proprietary specification names one product, and only that product is acceptable.
• A list of acceptable manufacturers names several, any of which may be used if they meet the requirements.
• A basis of design names one product the design is based on, then allows equivalent products that meet the same performance.
• A performance specification describes what the product must do, such as capacity, efficiency or fire rating, without naming a product.

Phrases such as 'or approved equal' and 'or acceptable alternative' mean another product may be proposed, but only through the substitution process in Division 01, with the consultant's approval before it is bought or installed. Installing an unapproved substitute, even a good one, can mean removing it at the contractor's cost.

Schedules on the drawings

Schedules are tables on the drawings that list items by tag with their properties. They save drawing the same information many times and are used for anything that repeats. Across the Kingsway Tower set you find:

Schedules affect trades other than the one they belong to. The door schedule tells Sam which doors have electrified hardware or access control, which need power. The room finish schedule tells Maya how thick the bathroom floor finish will be, which sets the height of her floor drains and toilet flanges. The mechanical equipment schedule tells Sam what size circuit each heat pump needs. Reading other trades' schedules is part of reading the drawings.

Finding sections in code

MasterFormat numbers are structured, so a small program can sort a list of sections into divisions and find the ones that apply to a trade. A searchable project manual does the same job when you look up a section number.

divisions = {"01": "General Requirements", "03": "Concrete", "07": "Thermal and Moisture Protection",
             "08": "Openings", "09": "Finishes", "21": "Fire Suppression", "22": "Plumbing",
             "23": "HVAC", "26": "Electrical", "28": "Electronic Safety and Security"}
sections = {"22 11 16": "Domestic Water Piping", "22 13 16": "Sanitary Waste and Vent Piping",
            "07 84 00": "Firestopping", "26 05 19": "Low-Voltage Power Conductors and Cables",
            "01 33 00": "Submittal Procedures", "23 31 13": "Metal Ducts", "22 42 00": "Commercial Plumbing Fixtures",
            "01 78 39": "Project Record Documents"}

def for_trade(trade_divs):
    picked = [n for n in sorted(sections) if n[:2] in trade_divs]
    for n in picked:
        print(f"  {n}  {sections[n]}  (Division {n[:2]} {divisions[n[:2]]})")

print("Plumbing apprentice should read:")
for_trade({"01", "07", "22"})
print("Electrical apprentice should read:")
for_trade({"01", "07", "26", "28"})

Plumbing apprentice should read:
  01 33 00  Submittal Procedures  (Division 01 General Requirements)
  01 78 39  Project Record Documents  (Division 01 General Requirements)
  07 84 00  Firestopping  (Division 07 Thermal and Moisture Protection)
  22 11 16  Domestic Water Piping  (Division 22 Plumbing)
  22 13 16  Sanitary Waste and Vent Piping  (Division 22 Plumbing)
  22 42 00  Commercial Plumbing Fixtures  (Division 22 Plumbing)
Electrical apprentice should read:
  01 33 00  Submittal Procedures  (Division 01 General Requirements)
  01 78 39  Project Record Documents  (Division 01 General Requirements)
  07 84 00  Firestopping  (Division 07 Thermal and Moisture Protection)
  26 05 19  Low-Voltage Power Conductors and Cables  (Division 26 Electrical)

Both lists include Division 01 and the firestopping section in Division 07, because they apply to everyone. The rest depends on the trade.

Reading a specification section quickly

Specification sections are long, but they are organized so you can find things fast. Start with the table of contents at the front of the project manual to find the section number. In the section, skim the headings: each article has a number such as 2.3 or 3.5 and a short title, such as Piping Materials or Field Quality Control. Read Part 1 for related sections and submittals, jump to the Part 2 article for the product you are installing, then read the whole of Part 3, because installation requirements are often spread across several articles. Keep a note of the paragraph numbers you use; when you raise a question, quoting the section and paragraph, such as 22 11 16, paragraph 3.5.2, makes the answer faster.

Specifications also refer to many standards, such as CSA, ASTM or ANSI standards for materials and NFPA standards for fire protection. You do not need to own the standards, but you should know that a product or method that does not meet the referenced standard does not meet the specification, even if it looks the same.