4C — December 18 - January 14, 2020 — Industry Leaders — Owners, Developers & Managers — M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marej.com
Industry Leaders
By David Stutzman, AIA, FCSI, CCS, SCIP, Conspectus, Inc. Specifications unlock power of critical collaboration
T
used throughout the project lifespan. It is an elemental classification systemdeveloped by estimators for cost analysis of building systems and it has evolved to include performance and design criteria and other documentation that would be included in the OPR. Typi- cally, construction documents are written in MasterFormat (MF). UF is best for exploring options and selecting optimal solutions, while MF permits purchasing products, con- tracting installers, validating construction results. A cloud-based Integrated Building Information (IBI) tool permits integrating the OPR, UF, and MF specifications into a single platform. The in- formation is available in total or in part, specific to users' project roles. This revolution- ary concept has many benefits, including: • Providing constantly up - dated and relevant informa- tion; • Project specific data with historical and chronological input from all parties; • Documentation and data updates based upon approvals and recommendations; • Ease of access by all rel - evant parties, including con- tractors, estimators, suppliers, owners, etc.; • Estimators can quickly ac - cess the UF systems and com- ponents that must be priced to guide design decisions; • Sharing of uniform MF specifications allowing all par - ties to understand proposed products and schedules; • Clear communication be - tween ownership and design- ers in an always-current OPR; There has never been a bet- ter time to implement these changes into projects – it is more cost efficient to deploy these solutions early on to avoid expensive future mis- takes, oversights and change orders. The potential of speci- fications has been unlocked. Through UF and MF integra- tion and universal stakeholder participation, all of the project requirements are incorporated in one platform that enables continuous estimating and de- sign validation that will serve the life of the project from day one through commissioning and building operations. David Stutzman, AIA, FCSI, CCS, SCIP is president of Conspectus, Inc. MAREJ
he need to aggressively adopt a way to improve processes, gain organi-
teams can improve their orga- nization and collaboration. We can now use these exciting new platforms to expose and exploit the strengths of these tools for the benefit of the construction management industry to en- sure that projects are coming in on time and without budget overruns. Specifications are key docu - ments, which detail system descriptions, and organize the information to relate to construction cost estimating. Managing specifications is crucial for everything from documenting design decisions,
to ensuring budget compliance, and stripping hidden risk as a whole. Stakeholders depend on specifications to deliver their projects efficiently. When begun early in the pro- cess, specifications canmanage and document the OPR (Own- ers Project Requirements) and can incorporate feedback from the end user, owner, contrac- tors and all stakeholders. Maintaining a decision record provides the owner teams with a more substantial presence, collaborating with the pre- construction team and con- tinuously updating estimates
and lead times for materials. As design documentation pro- gresses, rework is minimized, costs are controlled, and the owner’s informed consent is enabled throughout the entire process. After construction, the complete data package can be delivered and utilized for on- going building operation and maintenance. This documentation pro- cess uses Uniformat (UF), which provides an outline to a building’s major systems and assemblies. This powerful tool captures the origin of the documentation process and is
zational ef- ficiencies and control costs has always been impor- tant, but now it is critical to complete s u c c e s s f u l projects. The
David Stutzman
advent of cloud-based sharing technologies along with remote project management and own- ership provides an opportunity for advancement in how project
The View Is Amazing!
It’s possible when our team supports your construction project to mitigate risk with real-time OPR documentation and design validation.
We’ll have you walking on air.
READY TO HELP AT conspectusinc.com/amazing
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker