SPECIFICATIONS WRITING QUIZ 1 REVIEWER

PROJECT PHASES

1. Initial Preliminary Meeting

- Interior Designer will interview the client to determine the client’s requirements,
needs, and preference
- Technical questions
- Get to know your client

2. Schematic Phase
- Project proposal and contacts
- Obtain as built plans
o Take photos of site
- Acquire design guidelines (if applicable)
- Prepare design concept
- Initial utilization of space or floor plan/furniture layout
- Images/mood board
o Concept = Idea how to perform a design
o Pegs = To help client visualize. Should not be used as basis for design.

3. Design Development Phase

- Preliminary selections of materials and finishes
- Preliminary furniture selection
- Preliminary color selection
- Preliminary cost estimates
- Preliminary elevations and sections
- Preliminary floor plan, furniture layout, RCP
- Preliminary perspectives

4. Contract Documents Phase

- Contract Documents consist of the ff.:
o Agreement/Contract
 Written agreement between the owner and the contractor setting
forth the work to be performed, time and completion, and contract
price
 Terms and conditions
 Scope of work
 Work duration
 Exclusions
 Terms of payment
 Drawings
 Graphic representation of the work to be done
 Working Drawings – A comprehensive set of drawings used in
a building/construction project
o Gives the size, form, location, and arrangement of the
various elements
o Converts design date into construction information
and to clearly communicate that information to
contractors
o This must be complete, faithful, and graphic depiction
of the project’s design concept that is to scale
o Its essence is that this is the design professional’s
interpretation of how the project should be built
o Classifications:
 Location Drawings – ex.: Floor layout, RCP
 Component Drawings – ex.: Door details,
joinery details
  Assembly Drawings – ex.: Connection details,
ceiling details
 Combination Drawings
o Important Elements in Working Drawings
 Title block
 Drawings
 Dimensions
 Call outs
 General notes
 Legends and specifications
o Levels of Involvement in Working Drawings
 Levels of Involvement
 Level 1 – Knowledge/Understanding
 Level 2 – Expertise
 Level 3 – Skills and Forethought
 Before Production:
 Plan every step
 Develop checking methods
 Understand decisions made
 Applicable standards
 Draft
 Cooperate and communicate with other
trade consultants
 Assume nothing
 Think
 Improve skill set
o Relationship of Contract Documents
 Working Drawings
 Presents a picture of the structure and
its parts
 Size, form, location, and arrangement of
elements
 Should consist of the ff.:
o Extent, size, shape and location
of components
o Materials
o Details
o Interrelation of elements
o Schedules and tables
o Size of equipment
o Class of elements
o Physical elements of alternates
 Specifications
 Compliments the working drawings by
describing qualities of materials,
systems, and equipment indicated in
drawings
 Consistent information with drawings
 Should describe the ff.:
o Type and quality of elements
o Quality of workmanship
o Methods of fabrication
o Test and code requirements
o Gauges of equipment
o Allowances and prices
o Alternates and options
 Specifications
 Written description of work to be done or materials to be used
 Compliments the drawings by describing qualities of materials,
systems, and equipment; workmanship, on site fabrication;
and installation
 Description:
o Written
o Part of the contract documents
o Part of the project manual
o Contains description of work to be done
o Description of materials and its qualities
o Contains description of mode of construction
o Shows dimensions and other information not seen in
the working drawings
o Supplements and complements the working drawings.
Therefore, it should not overlap/conflict with the
details indicated on the working drawings
 Functions of Specifications:
o Law
o Insurance
o Bidding
o Contractors and subcontractors
o Estimator
o Purchaser of purchasing agent
o Building administrator, landlord
o Resident project representative or inspector
o Owner
o Interior Designer/Architect
 Basic Classifications of Specifications
o Open Specifications
 Allow the consideration of many materials or
components through the use of a “modified or
equal” clause of the use of performance based
specifications
Ex.: 600mm x 600mm HOMOGENOUS TILES,
POLISHED FINISH
 Quantity/Coverage – Dimensions – Short
generic descriptions – Finish/performance
Ex.:
1-1200mm x 2400mm SYNTHETIC SOLID
SURFACE, POLISHED FINISH, SUBMIT TO
DESIGNER FOR APPROVAL

1-1200mm x 2400mm SYNTHETIC SOLID

SURFACE TO MATCH “ABSOLUTE BLACK” BY
DIAMOND SURFACES, POLISHED FINISH OR
APPROVED EQUIVALENT

o Closed Specifications
 Requires an exact material or product by trade
name, style, or color number, thus restricting or
eliminating the consideration or any other
product
Ex.: 600mm x 600mm HOMOGENOUS TILES,
“GREY TRAVERTINE M603”, POLISHED
FINISH BY FELPORT TILES
  Quantity/Coverage – Dimensions – Short
generic descriptions – Model/item code –
Manufacturer- Supplier –
Finish/performance/technical information
Ex.:
1-1200mmL x 2400mmW x 20mmT
SYNTHETIC SOLID SURFACE “BLACK
ABSOLUTO KNJ2011” BY DIAMOND
SURFACES, SUPPLIED BY CW HOME DEPOT,
POLISHED AND CHAMFERED IN EDGES, 2-
HR FIRE RATING
 Basic Forms of Specification
o Brief Specification/Outline Specification
 Contains basic trade names and materials
 No detailed description is made
o Standard Specification
 Written in complete phrases
 Contains the description of materials and
materials of construction
o Streamlined Specification
 Abbreviated, simplified or streamlined written
in incomplete sentences, clauses, and phrases
 Basic Types of Specifications
o Proprietary Specification
 States outright the actual make, model, catalog
number, and so on of a product of the
installation instructions of a manufacturer.
Where certain options are available, the
specifier should include those pertinent to the
projects
 Require specific product from a specific
manufacturer indicated by a brand name and a
model number
 Stipulates the use of specific products of
processes without provision for substitution
o Descriptive Specification
 Describes in detail the materials to be used and
the workmanship required to fabricate, erect,
and install the materials
 Product name of manufacturers are not named
o Performance Specification
 Specifying the end result by formulating the
criteria for its accomplishment
 Describes how a product or material is to
perform, not necessarily what it is
o Reference Standard
 Specification based on requirements set by an
accepted authority
 Refers to the standard established for a
material, a test method, or an installation
procedure
 Reference standard agencies:
 ASTM – American Society of Testing and
Materials
 ANSI – American National Standards
Institute
 Local organizations and agencies
 Project Manual
 o Introduced to standardize language, project manual
organization, and data filing systems
o Used to organize project specifications and file product
information
 CSI Format
o Introduced to standardize language, project manual
organization, and data filing systems
o Used to organize project specifications and file product
information
 Masterformat (2016)
o Also known as the technical section or the trade
section
o Consists of basic word description of a basic trade or
material installation (quality of material, workmanship)
o Outlining scope of work in a carefully worded manner
and a comprehensive discussion of methods of
construction in the form of instructions
 Addenda
 Additional work to be made before contract execution
 Modifications
 Instructions, change orders, directives, and so on, written after
execution of the contract
5. Construction Phase
- Interior designer visits the site to check if the drawings are being followed
- Coordination of schedule between interior designer and the contractor
- The interior designer assists in the procurement of furniture and furnishings
- The interior designer shall supervise installation of finishes, furnishings as described
in the bid documents

6. Project Completion
- This section describes services included after the job is basically completed
- The interior designer shall inspect the work to review that the work has been done
according to specifications, bid documents, and reasonable work of its kind
- The interior designer, owner, and contractor shall inspect the project for repairs and
improvements

BUILDING VS. STRUCTURE

- Building
o Relatively permanent enclosed structure constructed over plot of land for
habitable use
o Any human-made structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any
use of continuous occupancy
o Building Types
 Agricultural
 Commercial
 Residential
 Institutional
 Industrial
 Religious
 Transport
 Others
 Entertainment
 Special Use
 Mixed Use
o Physical Systems
 Structural system – Skeletal system
 Foundation – Sub-structure
 Structural frame – Superstructure
  Roof system - Superstructure
 Architectural envelope – Skin
 Interior subdivision of space – Organs
 Supply chain elements – Circulatory, nervous, digestive
- Structure
o A body of assemblage of bodies in space to form a system capable of supporting
loads
o Types of Loads:
 Dead load
 Live load
 Environmental
 Other loads

FOUNDATION
- The lowest division of the building designed to support and anchor the
superstructure
- Substructure that transmit loads directly to the earth
- Earth is an important component of foundations
- Footing – Part of the foundation system bearing directly upon the supporting soil,
enlarged to distribute the load over a greater area
- Types of Foundations:
o Shallow
 Isolated footing
 Strip footing
 Continuous footing
 Combined footing
 Mat
 Ribbed mat
 Cellular mat
o Deep
 Piles
 Piers

STRUCTURAL FRAME
- Skeletal structure designed to give shape and support loads in a structure
o Vertical members
o Horizontal members
o Space frames
- Structural Frame
o Columns
 Relatively slender structural member designed to support axial and
compressive loads
 A structural element that transmits through a compression, the weight of
the structure above to other structural elements below
 An upright, vertical supporting member in the superstructure –
compression

BEAMS
- A rigid structural member designed to carry and transfer transverse loads across
space to supporting elements

GIRDER
- A large principal beam designed to support concentrated loads at isolated points
along its length

JOISTS
- Any series of small, parallel beams designed to support floors, ceilings, or flat roofs