by Brianna Crandall — April 3, 2015—Even in this age of building information modeling (BIM) software and information management, a key part of the information used during construction projects is the specification—the mechanism by which the designers impart their technical detailed requirements for the engineering services and systems, reminds U.K.-based nonprofit building research and consultancy BSRIA.
So BSRIA joined the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) and the Building and Engineering Services Association (B&ES) to create a guide to help ensure that specifications are written in such a way as to be readily understandable by the user, and to help avoid inaccurate specifications that can lead to confusion and errors in pricing, and exacerbate difficulties in the commercial and contractual process.
The guide, Model Format for Building Services Specifications (BG56/2015), aims to aid efficiency and understanding for all parties involved in preparing and using specifications, and complements BSRIA’s Design Framework for Building Services (BG06/2014).
The guide helps users clearly describe what systems are to be provided and how they are intended to be operated once installed. It provides the general framework covering the arrangement of sections and clauses within which an author can use their content with the least amount of change.
Chapters of the guide cover the “traditional” specification practices, key points on preparing more effective specifications, model specification formats and an example. Classification is also included, along with the standard numbering to aid comparison with some existing specification preparation tools.
A full list of Common Arrangement of Work Sections (CAWs) work sections appears in the appendix. This is expected to be helpful when aligning the specification to BIM activities, particularly as the final pieces of the U.K. government’s Level 2 BIM strategy falls into place, notes BSRIA.
This guide is available to purchase individually or for a 20% discount as part of a two-book set with Design Framework for Building Services, Model Specification and Design Framework Set of 2 guides (DFMS). Hard copies or PDFs are priced at 40 for nonmembers or 20 to BSRIA members. BSRIA members can download the PDF version for free.
