Day 1 of Being an Independent Specifier!

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So I landed my first project today and I am excited and nervous. I have been a full time spec writer for my firm for two and a half years and my focus has been on institutional and educational projects. But this is on my own.

I am nervous because this project is for multi-family residential and I have very limited experience with this project type. Writing specs for a new 300,000 sf hospital doesn’t scare me at all, but this does.

Any tips or suggestions on how to quickly ramp up on the knowledge I need to obtain to ensure a quality project for my client?

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Be very stringent in your text for exterior decorative elements such as balastrades, so that they exclude gypsum material completely. Also, mirrored wardrobe closest doors don’t seem to exist in MasterSpec, so you’ll have to make up a section for them :slight_smile:

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I’ve been there myself, and I wish you well. I hope you asked for, and got, an initial payment for some portion of the fee up front. If not, try to with your next client. (May be too late with this one, since his/her expectations are already set…)

Multi-family residential is a wide range, with very different requirements. There are wood-framed garden apartments for cheap build & flip developers at one end, and litigation-prone high-rise coastal condos laden with all kinds of pitfalls at the other. If it’s the latter, I’d suggest you try to extricate yourself from the contract and start over with some other client…

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Standard wood framed cheap build (garden?) apartments it is. Hardi-plank, Tyvek, Three-Tab Shingle, Brick etc.

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Robert - Thanks for the tip on initial payment.

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Is it high-rise? Multifamily in high-rise is very similar to the commercial work you are used to.

I suspect Jerry Lazar might have some comments about his experiences that contradict that above statement - in fact you might want to search 4specs for his posts, and the follow up comments. He needs to write a novel about his work with developers in Florida.

Wood frame construction for multifamily is where you will diverge. I grew up in architecture in the wood frame world, and later in my career got more into commercial, so I came at it from the other direction.

One fundamental piece of advice: good specification practice (which from your past posts it sounds like you understand) is the same regardless of project type or construction system. And that leads to the obligatory plug - get your CCS if you haven’t already

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Verify and confirm requirements that might be imposed by way of the project’s source of financing. Public funds or grants can invoke energy conservation standards, noise transmission criteria and even material requirements for construction of kitchen cabinets that might be unfamiliar.

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It is a three story wood framed developer project. Thanks for the tips so far, I now know additional questions that I need to ask. The client is a past employer who typically does not write specifications or do CA for their projects.

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Right–Check what HUD, FHA and other federal standards apply, if any (it’s been a long time since I was involved in multifamily work; those have probably changed a lot since then).

In addition to your CCS, join SCIP right now if you haven’t already, and if you possibly can, plan on attending its annual meeting coming up soon (it’s always a full day, the day before the CSI convention kicks off, so you can do both on the same trip). That was the best advice I received when I was in your position…(it’s SCIP.com, I think…)

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“…does not write specifications or do CA for their projects.” Yes, that seems to be typical for wood-framed developer apartments–no specs, no CA (at least in Houston, where the city plan checkers don’t check specs, and likely discard them if submitted…). If you were in Houston, I’d be a little surprised if you were asked to do specs for a project like this…

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Developers have a different point of view from architectural firm clients. One serious concern I came across an a multi-story condominium project was water intrusion. Another was sound transmission. Both items are frequently the subject of lawsuits by the occupants. Cover yourself with good quality construction practice and sufficient testing. If the owner ignores the specifications recommendations or requests that they be removed, get it in writing.

Requesting an initial payment is a good suggestion. I ask for a nominal amount on the first project with a new client just to test the client’s administrative process. Since it is part of the contract, they whould be encouraged to pay quickly to get you started.

One of the purposes of SCIP is to help new independent specifiers starting a business. If you can come to Baltimore on Monday, September 8, you can ask your questions during the discussion forum. Check www.scip.com for details as they are finalized.

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Follow the law journals on residential lawsuits. Especially if in a highly litigious areas of the country. Here in California there was a California Supreme court ruling this month that makes the architect open to 3rd party lawsuits. The article I read also said that it was left open to other building types other than residential, too. The articles were in both National Law Review and in Durability and Design.

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I could of been more specific in the title of the post. This is my first day as a “moonlighting” independent specifier. Still got a full time position, but I could not pass up the opportunity. Who knows where this might go though…

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I would determine (if you haven’t already) if there is any government funding/support on the development since it could affect your scope of work. I did some low income housing tax credit projects years ago when the IRS had approved the credit program but the details and requirements were still fairly wide open. (truth be told it was kind of the wild west of low income housing back in the day) From what I have been told the process has gotten a great deal more regimented since then so there could be some front end information that has to be to the governments standards to make sure you are not jeopardizing the tax credits.

I may be making mountains out of mole hills on this because I haven’t done any such projects in so long, still I figured I was add my 2 cents

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George, if Jerome Lazar ever wrote a novel about his work with developers and architect clients in Florida, if would be classified under “fantasy”.
No-one would believe it.

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my ears are burning…
my eyes are tearing…
so here are my comments and some tips, more will follow, its late and yes I am up still writing specs:

I enjoy writing specifications for condominium work in Florida, and I’ve been successful at it, my work has never been cited as grounds for negligence on any litigation and I’ve prepared specifications on over 100 condominium projects in Florida from 5 story to 65 story - the key is to write a very tight spec, not follow masterspec word for word (esp for Florida work) and ask a lot of questions of the contractor, subs and all the other consultants. If you have an ego, put it in the closet until the job is over, be humble, learn from your peers, some of the best teachers are the V.P.'s for Construction for the Development Firms, these guys are on the front line, get on their good side even if it costs you money and time, if they are repeat customers (or not) those relationships will pay you back with the knowledge you can use from one job to the next.

Also don’t be afraid to say no, that is one thing I learned from this forum, so if I don’t agree with a client I don’t include the request in the specifications, remember the drawings and specifications together form the contract documents, you don’t want to contradict the drawings, but if the specifications don’t match the drawings 100%, its not grounds for negligence.

My current specifications are home grown using masterspec, manufacturer’s specifications, and other sources as databases. I also employ my own sub-consultants on everything from waterproofing to acoustics, though most of that is in the form of trade of services. I also update my specs all the time, I keep a running log of these changes per job, and why the change was made.

Make sure your manufacturer’s reps read your spec section referencing their products and advise them to keep you apprised of changes or problems in the field, I’ve dropped manufacturers from spec jobs when I am surprised by problems. These are private funded projects and I yield a lot of control. I don’t appreciate surprises. If a rep wants to be listed as one of my three approved manufacturers they need to make sure my specs are up to date. In return, I make sure they know when jobs are going to bid and who is bidding. I am very loyal to the reps who make my specs the best they can be.

One more tip if you are preparing specs for condos, modify the job specs as the job progresses, whether you are paid for it or not, at the end of the job the developer is required in Florida to submit documents that depict the actual construction, contractor seldom maintain a good set of as-builts, esp in regards to the specifications, its good to have your own set when the job is completed. If you are lucky you will recoup your time in fees, but most important in good will, not to mention the advantage you will have when the job gets litigated.

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I am not going to rehash on my past dilemmas, you all can read about those in previous posts, I’ve managed to finish even the problem jobs without litigation, there were no fantasies, just real work in this crazy state I call home…many of the firms that challenged me are no longer in business, I am still standing and have just completed the specs for a 58 story condominium, starting specs for a 52 story condo and have been asked to consider preparing specs for a 65 story condominium, while working on two 30 story towers, one condo and one rental, and several commercial and hospitality projects, all out of a one man office, none of these jobs did I pursue, they all came to me from past satisfied clients.

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But I am not working at 4am on Saturday morning because of a deadline, or a fantasy, no I’m not preparing for a fish trip, or vacation (what’s that?)…I am up all night because my mentally ill daughter had a very bad day Friday and I am on suicide watch, I’ve managed to hide all the sharp instruments and knives, and am waiting for my daughter to pass out, god knows I’ve given her enough sedatives tonight. Maybe I will be lucky and she won’t have another debilitating night terror that her doctors can’t explain, though their latest diagnosis is PTSD. If I am really lucky she’ll only have one night terror that I need to immediately wake her from, so she can fall back asleep…and than I’ll get to sleep for a few hours…but only a few, cause I expect this will be a very long weekend, with very little sleep.

Isn’t life grand.

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We recently prepared last minute specs for a mult-family rental in So FL for Lennar, Lennar does not typically issue specifications for their projects, but Lennar was unable to close on the loan because the bank insisted that specifications be included. I was called on to prepare specs in 3 days, but it took 4 (I must be losing my touch), that was a 6 weeks ago, no complaints so far. That schedule was brutal, I doubt I will ever accept a job like that again, no matter how big the client is.

Has anyone else seen those requests from clients who don’t typically issue specifications? In Florida I see many very large jobs being built without specifications.

I did receive complete payment when specs were turned over though, that was nice.

All’s quiet on the western front, time to go to sleep, night all.

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Jerome, I hope your daughter is OK.

Brian, for multifamily, the Professional (a.k.a. Short Form) library of MasterSpec is often well suited for the level of detail the contracting team will be expecting. If there are other product types or performance requirements that you need, they will be very few, and you can insert from Premium (Full Length). Mainly it solves editing out a morass of administrative requirements unlikely to fit that type of work. Always confirm if the Owner or Architect have a specific set of documents or standards to follow.

I hope your employer is cool with this, they must be since you are on public forum. Another consideration is the licensing of MasterSpec (although some of us here do all the research and write from scratch, my hat is off to those who do but that’s a whole 'nother topic), and any PDF solutions you need, etc, that factor into your pricing.

Always make sure your client knows what THEIR deadline is for providing you information and markups.

Always make sure it is clear in the written agreement that you are not designer of record (I assume you are not but I don’t know your arrangement), and keep from getting embroiled in their decisions though a certain level of help early on for them to decide major materials will help you as well to avoid writing the wrong spec sections and throwing them away.

Just some things to think about. No need to hang yourself.