Reading a specification section before the work starts
Three weeks into painting a 12-bed hospice, the architect's field reviewer asks to see the approved sample rooms. There are none: the painting section required one in each colour scheme before general painting, and the painters had worked from the finish schedule. Six resident rooms already have their finish coat.
Before a trade starts, read its specification section for what the drawings cannot show: the approvals and inspections that must come first, the site conditions the work needs, the products allowed, and how the work is prepared, installed, tested and protected. The drawings say where things go; the section says what they are and how they will be judged. Canada's National Master Specification arranges each section in three parts, a format the Canadian and US specification bodies publish together: Part 1, General; Part 2, Products; Part 3, Execution.
Read it part by part
- Get the current section, with any addenda, and note the related sections it names; Division 01's general requirements apply to every section, mentioned or not.
- Part 1, General: find what must happen first — samples and mock-ups, inspections and who must be told, and site conditions such as temperature and humidity. Submittals are listed here too; the coordinator tracks them in the submittal register.
- Part 2, Products: check what is on site against the products named, and whether a substitute needs approval.
- Part 3, Execution: read the sequence of work — examining the surface, preparation, installation, tolerances, field tests, cleaning and protection.
- Mark every hold point. Search for "before", "until" and "approved"; each is a condition to meet or an approval to get.
- Put it on one page for the foreman, with who to call for each hold point, and go through it at start-up.
- Send conflicts as questions, not choices; see when the drawings and specifications disagree.
Common mistakes
- Working from the finish schedule and never opening the section.
- Reading only Part 3, which looks like the instructions, and missing Part 1's conditions.
- Assuming this job's section says what the last job's did.
Checklist
Before a trade starts
- The current section, with addenda and related sections
- Approvals, samples and inspections needed first
- Site conditions: temperature, humidity, moisture, light, dust
- Products on site checked against Part 2
- Preparation, tests and protection from Part 3
- One page for the foreman
Check your understanding
The tile section's Part 3 says to examine the floor and report unsatisfactory conditions in writing before starting. The slab looks fine. Why still ask the tile foreman for the report?
