Specifications don’t replace drawings. They work with them.
Too often specifications are written defensively, to cover what the drawings leave out, so there is something to point to when an argument starts in the field. That protects someone, but it doesn’t fix the set.
At its best, writing the specifications does the opposite. Many sections are routine. Some raise questions the drawings have to answer: which product, which detail, where one thing stops and the next begins. Answer them, and the drawings get tighter. That is the ideal, and it is how we work. We read your whole set first, ask those questions in a written report, and write the specifications once you give your decisions.
Not every project allows the ideal. A set already late, a bid date close, no specifications at all: we work from wherever your project is.
What it gets you
Documents that agree with each other before they go out to bid. That minimizes RFIs and change orders, has every bidder pricing the same thing, and gives you a set you can stand behind in construction.
qcSpecs is a remote practice led by an architect with thirty years of producing construction documents and answering for them in the field. We work on projects in North America.
For Architects + Designers
We read your set, send you the questions it raises, and write the architectural technical sections. For architects →
For Owners + Developers
Building a house, a development, or a building to sell or lease. We check your documents before they go to bid, and write the specifications your drawings need. For owners →