Preparing specifications
Turn a vague scope into a document a contractor can actually price.
A specification is the written description of materials, methods, and quality standards a contractor must follow, produced during the construction documents phase, right after design development. It turns a design into something a contractor can price and build, and it organizes that description using MasterFormat, the construction industry's standard numbering system for specification sections.
What a specification actually is
Your construction documents have two halves. The drawings show what the project looks like. The specifications describe what everything is made of, how it performs, and how it gets installed: the membrane thickness on a roof, the paint system on a stairwell, the grade of pipe going into the ground.
Specifications are produced in the phase right after design development, when the design professional takes the layout that was approved and adds the construction detail. Boards do not typically write this document themselves, an architect or engineer prepares it, but a board that understands what belongs in it can catch a gap before it becomes a bidder's excuse or a change order.
"the architect...produces drawings with greater detail" including "specifications for construction details and materials."
Source: Defining the Architect's Basic Services, American Institute of Architects
Why the wording is the whole game
There is no single industry-wide definition of "scope of work," but functionally it is the boundary of what the contract requires the contractor to do, and that boundary is drawn by the specifications and drawings. Anything a bidder cannot find described in that package is, by definition, outside the contract.
That is the practical reason vague specifications cost money. "Replace roof as needed" leaves the membrane type, the flashing detail, and the underlayment undefined. When the contractor hits something not written down, the association is not getting free work, it is getting a change order.
"an official change of any kind in the original scope of work or terms of a construction contract agreed to by the owner, contractor, and project designer."
Source: Change Orders, Associated General Contractors of America
Reading the package your architect hands you
A finished specification package usually arrives organized into numbered divisions, roofing under one number, plumbing under another, electrical under another. That structure is not the architect's personal preference, it follows MasterFormat, a standardized system the whole construction industry uses.
You do not need to write to this structure. You do need to recognize it well enough to sanity-check the package: if your project touches the roof, the electrical room, and the parking structure, there should be a numbered section for each, not one paragraph covering all three.
"the construction industry's standardized language for project documentation" that "translates design intent into construction reality by organizing specifications into work results that contractors can price, procure, and build."
Source: MasterFormat overview, Construction Specifications Institute
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
The specification for a roof replacement says "replace roof as needed" with no membrane type or thickness listed. Six weeks in, the contractor says extra flashing work is outside the contract. What is the board's most likely exposure?
A contractor bidding a clubhouse renovation asks why the specification package is organized into numbered divisions like 09 Finishes and 23 HVAC instead of one long narrative. What is the board's best answer?
Design development drawings are finished and the design professional begins writing the specifications. Which phase produces this detailed description of materials and construction methods?
Sources
- Defining the Architect's Basic Services, American Institute of Architects
- MasterFormat overview, Construction Specifications Institute
- Change Orders, Associated General Contractors of America
Capital Projects
Next, learn how to turn this specification package into a request for proposal bidders can actually respond to.
How much detail a specification needs, and who is qualified to prepare it, depends on the size and nature of your project and on what your governing documents require for capital work. Check your CC&Rs and, for anything structural or life-safety related, confirm with a licensed design professional.