I used to have a brochure promoting my spec writing services. When I learned that another specifier (no longer practicing) copied my brochure verbatim and put his own name on it, I wrote a friendly letter wishing him well in his business and suggesting that his customers were probably more interested in what he could do for them than what I could do for them. He stopped using the brochure.
I fully agree that the real value that specifiers bring is their experience and judgement. It can be argued that the actual writing of the specifications is the least important part of the service we provide.
However, if there are errors in the specifications issued by me, I am responsible for them. It doesn’t matter if others helped in writing or if the errors were in the masters or other source material. Claiming “I didn’t build that” is not a defense.
Unlike politicians, we can’t deflect or shrug off errors with sound-bites. If I am the specifier and am going to be held responsible for errors in the specifications, then I expect to receive credit for when specifications save the day. So actually, yes, I did build that.
Yes, of course we are individually responsible for the problems we cause along the way and for the good things we do. But the infrastructure (such as MasterFormat) and the way we express things is the product of a culture that has been growing for decades. That’s the part I am referring to that I did not build.
CSI Specifying Practice Group, 4 August session:
“Intellectual Property for Design Professionals”
As design and construction projects become increasingly complex, project team members are faced with more requirements for protection of intellectual property. At the same time, the sources of intellectual property provisions, including industry standard contracts have changed, making it more difficult for industry professionals to fulfill IP obligations. Through case studies, this program will examine common contractual and ethical obligations for intellectual property imposed on participants in design and construction projects, including copyrights, trademarks and patents. Participants will gain practical knowledge of intellectual property Dos and Donts in commonly encountered scenarios from project inception through completion of construction in order to comply with contractual requirements. In response to requests for a session on this subject, Dave and Louis have arranged for Josh Flowers of HBG Design, who is both a registered architect and licensed attorney to lead the discussion.
The session is free to non-members as well as members. Register at csiresources.org.
Louis
I could not find how to register based just on the link provided.
The correct date is Thursday the 3rd. There is now an event link on the home page of csiresources.org for registration.
All of this feedback is very much appreciated. I revisited today and reread all of the comments again for good measure.
Never include the day of the week when specifying a date.
Why?
November 3, 2017 is not a Thursday. Specifying a day of week and date creates an opportunity for error.
Michael, I seldom disagree with you, but this time I do, I always date my specs, in fact every page of every spec section I issue displays a date (11/3/17) as well as the moniker of the spec section author. In regards to errors, there are many more opportunities for errors, if the spec writer does not perform his due diligence. If you really want to learn about the mistakes you make, try preparing specs for HUD financed projects, what a nightmare, yet I have four such projects under contract right now. I guess I am a glutton for punishment.
Jerome, If we all agreed with each other, this forum would be much less interesting.
My comment was not about dating specs – it makes perfect sense to date pages as replacement sections can be issued throughout bidding or construction and dates aid in tracking versions.
Instead, I was answering Margaret’s question about Sheldon’s advice, “Never include the day of the week when specifying a date”.
A thought about dates:
There is an international standard for the order of data in a date: YYYY-MM-DD. Hours, minutes, and seconds can also be added. I have been using this convention for several years and it simplifies filing and computer file naming.
If we all used the standard, it would reduce a lot of confusion in the industry and society.
See ISO 8601 Data elements and interchange formats Information interchange Representation of dates and times. A summary is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601.
This is written at 2017-01-01:18:11:18
Michael,
If you did indeed write your post at 2017-01-01, you are about ten months delayed in posting it. But it would show your remarkable ability to know the future!
Give me a break. At least the date is complete and concise.
I work for a firm with (too many) offices all over the world. When we collaborate on a big project, synchronizing times for even an on-line meeting can be extremely cumbersome. Not just the time zones, but the adoption, or non-adoption of daylight savings time and the varying dates it does, or doesn’t take effect. No matter what, someone is always calling in from home, in their bathrobe, because it is 3 AM their time.
As a trying-to-be Clear, Concise and Correct Spec Writer, I advocate for the adoption of Star Dates, from the Star Trek TV show, to no avail.