Building Relationships Through Education SpecGuy

SpecGuy's

Glossary of Construction Specifications Terms


4Specs - Product manufacturer information site. 12,000 bookmarks. http://www.4specs.com/

ANSI – The American National Standards Institute. ANSI is an umbrella organization that administers and coordinates the national voluntary consensus standards system. http://www.ansi.org/

ARCOM – Architectural Computer Services, Inc. Publishers of MASTERSPEC under license from the American Institute of Architects. Publishers of MASTERWORKS specification editing software. http://www.arcomnet.com/

ASTM International – Formerly the American Society for Testing Materials. They develop and publish testing standards for materials and specifications used by industry. http://www.astm.org/

BSD SpecLink® – Subscription master guide specification library with database editing software. http://www.bsdsoftlink.com/

CCB – Construction Criteria Base. An electronic library of federal construction guide specifications, manuals, standards and other criteria documents, published by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). http://www.ccb.org/

CSI – Construction Specifications Institute. Membership organization of design professionals, construction professionals, product manufacturers, and building owners. Develops and promotes industry communication standards and certification programs. http://www.csinet.org/.

FMG – Factory Mutual Global. Insurance industry consortium whose loss prevention standards serve as defacto construction industry standards for roofing and other construction assemblies. http://www.fmglobal.com/

General Conditions – (When used by contractors) Construction project activities and their associated costs that are not usually assignable to a specific material installation or subcontract. Example: temporary electrical power.

General Conditions – (When used by everyone else) The contract document (often a standard form) that spells out the relationships between the parties to the contract. Example: the AIA Document A201.

Guide specification – A specification section that is not intended to be used as a contract specification, but rather as a guide or assist to persons writing or editing contract specifications.

LEED – Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. A sustainable design building certification system promulgated by the United States Green Building Council. Also an accrediting program for professionals (LEED APs) who have mastered the certification system. http://www.usgbc.org/

Leeds – A city in Yorkshire, England. http://www.leeds.gov.uk/.

Manual of Practice™ – (MOP) Previous edition of the Project Resource Manual (PRM).

MANU-SPEC® – A manufacturer’s proprietary guide specification library published by Reed First Source. http://www.reedfirstsource.com/

Master specification – A resource specification section containing options for selection, usually created by a design professional firm, which once edited for a specific project becomes a contract specification.

MasterFormat – Industry standard for organizing specifications and other construction information, published by CSI and Construction Specifications Canada. Formerly a 5-digit number system with 16 divisions. Now a 6- or 8-digit numbering system with 49 divisions.

MASTERSPEC® – Subscription master guide specification library published by ARCOM and owned by the American Institute of Architects. http://www.specguy.com/www.masterspec.com

PageFormat – Companion industry standard to MasterFormat. Dictates the page design of construction specifications.

PRODUCT MASTERSPEC® - A manufacturer’s proprietary guide specification library published by ARCOM. http://www.specguy.com/www.productmasterspec.com

Project Resource Manual - Industry resource text for the organization, preparation, use and interpretation of construction documents. Previous edition known as Manual of Practice.

Proprietary Specification – A method of specifying that references the name of a manufacturer or product as a means of establishing the required characteristics of a product.

SectionFormat – Companion industry standard to MasterFormat. Organizes specification sections into 3 parts, subdivided by standard article titles.

SpecsIntact – Specification editing software developed by NASA and used by several federal government agencies. specsintact.ksc.nasa.gov

SPECTEXT® – Subscription master guide specification library published by the Construction Sciences Research Foundations. http://www.spectext.com/

UL – Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. A private testing and labeling organization that develops test standards for product compliance. UL standards appear throughout specifications, often in roofing requirements, and always in equipment utilizing or delivering electrical power. http://www.ul.com/

UFGS - Unified Facilities Guide Specifications. A master specification library published for use by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Naval Facility Engineering Command, and the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency. Edited using SpecsIntact software. www.ccb.org/docs/ufgshome/UFGSToc.htm