Where do you put your specs?

Archive of Older Topics Archive - Specifications Discussions #2
1

Currently at my office we have several different servers dedicated to projects (CAD drawings), images (photos), admin (accounting, scheduling), general (software programs), marketing, specifications, etc.

On one recent project the project manager and project architect were adamant that I have all the project specifications in the project server. Their reasoning is that they are both “construction documents” and can easily be archived. They also wanted the ease to file correspondence, etc.

So being a team player I gave into their whim. Now I am thinking that this was a mistake. Specs should have their own server. Its a pain trying to flip back and forth between projects to find specs.

The funny thing is that once I transferred all my specs over to the other project folder, they complained that I had cluttered up the folder.

What do you guys do?

2

We have an overall project folder on a server. It has multiple sub-folders and sub-sub-folders, one of them being specifications. For example: G:\2500\2595\002-00\Work\Spec where “G” is the drive and the numbers identify the project. The spec folder will also have numerous sub folders for SD, DD, GMP, CD, etc.

3

David,

We maintain our separate, totally separate volume that only has spceificaion group and administrator access. We closed it when we discovered PAs modifying text. Now they don’t have the option.

And they have never complained.

4

We don’t give everyone the option either, we just assign different people the rights to different folders within the project file.

5

My firm wanted me to locate specs within project file directory structure when I took over. I refused to do it for reasons Mr. Axt cites. The office has gotten used to it, and I have had no problems whatsoever with archiving issues or access issues…

6

In my office, specifications, both Masters & Projects, reside on their own drive, which can only be accessed by myself, my assistant and one other assistant who helps out on occasion.

Everything else related to the project is on a different drive.

If someone needs a copy of a section, or the whole file, I copy it to the other drive, but never remove it from the spec drive.

This keeps some PM or PA from messing up the official version - which I have had happen, thank God I gave them a copy and it’s why they don’t have access to the spec drive.

When we eventually archive the job, the specs are then moved to the other drive and archived.

We also still produce our specs in WordPerfect, and everyone else uses Word - this keeps them out of the specs as well.

7

I hide the files various places so people generally have a hard time finding them (usually including me). So, there is no central repository. Don’t tell my boss.

8

At my office, when it’s in-house, they are developed from a set of masters residing on a seperate server that only the administrative group has access too. Once they are completed, they are ported over to the comon project directory. Revisons, bulletins, etc… are performed on the project directory, typically by the Project Architect.

9

I have spoken to the partner and told him that if I move the specs over to the project file that we should also move marketing, photos, and accounting over to the same file, that way it’s all in one file. The partner was not thrilled with the idea (my intention) and will get back to me.

When I explained my reasoning to the PM he called told me that it was an obsolete “territorial” way of thinking.

Hey, I don’t tell him how to organized his pens and pencils in his desk drawer! Why should he care about how I organize my files?

10

in my delicates drawer

11

In my office, we have five sub-folders for each project folder: One for administration documents, one for drawings, one for presentations, one for issued packages, and one for specs. I usually control what goes in the spec folder for each project.

In my spec folder, I usually create a short-cut to the drawings in the drawing folder so I can quickly bounce over to them whenever I need to look at any drawings that arent sitting on my desk. My office tries to follow the Universal CAD Standard, so I can usually find any drawings I need pretty quickly - if theyve been drawn.

I also created a folder on my desktop that I labeled spec references. The folder is full of nothing but short-cut links directly to other specs for all the other projects Ive done or past ones that I have referenced. I group types of projects into subfolders to keep the list short. It takes me less than ten seconds to get to any specification section in any project I have ever worked on or referenced. I use shortcut files that allow me to change the name of the shortcut so I can organize them by project name and number.

12

Our bought masters (MasterSpec) and our office masters both reside on a separate server from the projects. Access rights are granted to only myself, my assistant, our Director of Operations (an associate principal), and our Director of QA / QC (also an associate principal).

Our project specifications reside on the projects server. There are three folder per project: CAD (for all drawings), DOCS (for all job-related correspondence), and SPECS (for - you guessed it - all the specifications. They are not protected, so anyone working one the project who must, by necessity, have access to the CAD and DOCS folders, also has access to the SSECS folder (but we’re working on changing that).

In the SPECS folder, we have separate sub-folders corresponding to the various submittals / issues for the project: SD, DD, 50% CD, Issue for Permit, Issue for Bid, Issue for Construction, etc. We obviously don’t have all of those on every project, but we do name the folder to correspond to the actual submittal. Some projects have only one or two submittals, some have as many as 6 or 7. The point is, we have a specifically designated folder that corresponds to the submittal. Once that submittal is made, there is no need to go into that folder again (except to copy those files into the next submittal’s folder). That folder then becomes the permanent electronic record of what was included in that submittal, and is archived accordingly.

Within each of the separate submittals folder, we have a standardized structure for locating all the various specifications files:

	0  Owners Front End 
	1  Civil  
	2  Landscape 
	3  Structural 
	4  Hardware 
	5  Signage 
	6  Food Service 
	7  Mechanical 
	8  Electrical 
	9  Architectural

Regardless of the project or submittal, this structure remains the same. We also add folders as necessary for things like elevator, telecom, etc. But the list above represents the most common ones that apply to the vast majority of our projects. This not to imply that we require electronic files from all the various consultants; actually, we do require hard copies. But there are occasions when the owner and consultants will send us electronic files. The file folder structure above merely gives us a permanent parking place (that, too, gets archived) for those files in the event we do receive them. (Obviously, folder #9 is all of our stuff.)

13

In my former firm, we had project related documents in a single directory. Different people have different rights. Project managers can see and open the specifications folders (which means that they can copy and e-mail), but can’t overwrite the working copies. The grunts “on the boards” usually can’t even see the the specification folders. Master specifications are kept in a separate folder to which rights are severely restricted.

The worst problems that I have had have involved people inadvertently moving entire folders (and subfolders) which is usually made worse because they don’t know what they have done.

14

our project specs are in the project folder, which is where I think they belong. the project folder also contains the PM files, the CA files and anything else (including marketing information) relevant to that project. I don’t get what the issue is about “protecting specs”. This allows me to go into the CAD files and review the drawings while I’m working on the project. I trust that no one is going to modify the specs without telling me, in much the same way they trust me to not mess up the drawings. I don’t think specs should be some closed off fiefdom in the office.
the master specifications in my office are available to all as well. I have administrator capability in terms of changing those files, and that is restricted to just a few people.

15

My current firm, plus my last employer (of only a week ago–I changed jobs), keep project specs in the project folder, which I strongly believe is where they belong. While I would prefer that others don’t edit the project spec without me knowing, there are times when this is necessary. PMs and PAs ought to be able to be trusted. What if everyone hid the drawings they worked on, or kept them separately? Something is wrong if you have to hide them. However, our masters are kept in a separate read-only directory. Come to think of it, this has been the practice at the last four firms I’ve been at.

In my last firm, the marketing files were also kept in the project folder, and I think that makes sense, too. Accounting files, to the extent they were not part of the accounting system (like spreadsheets and contract negotiation memos), were also kept with the project.

16

In our office we have a peroject folder system. Each project has a folder with a set of sub-folders including one for “Specifications”. The Specifications sub-folder has access rights. Anyone can read and print out from it, but only members of the Spec Group can write, modify or save documents to it. If a Project Architect or Project Engineer wish to modify a Section themselves, they need to make a copy of it, modify it and then send it back to us for inclusion. Due to formating concerns, overall control of consistency and control of document issues, our preference is for all spec processing to be coordinated through the Spec Group.

17

We have corporate-wide standards for the project directory structure for all of our 300+ offices. Each discipline has their own folder under the job number for their exclusive use. With some of our government work, access to the project number is restricted to individuals with clearances, other people don’t even see the number. We do this my controlling rights to folders.

Our project specs are in the SPEC folder under the project number. Specs for all disciplines are kept by the spec department and only the spec department can write to this folder. If someone else makes changes on their own, they cannot overwrite the original document and have to file the changed spec in a subfolder called ED (edit) where they are granted full rights. That way, we know who has made changes and can check the document for non-standard format styles that can cause file corruption.

18

Our firmwide masters, including regional masters and our subscription masters, all live on a central server. This server is read-only to all but a few spec leaders. We also have a “secret” spec development area that is available to a chosen few. Project teams can download the official masters through the editing software by browsing to the folders.

For projects, we have a standard file folder setup which nearly every project follows, and the specs have a standard location within that. The finished specs always reside there, along with progress uploads for backup or review purposes. The standard file structure makes finding my stuff a lot easier, but there’s still some guesswork involved sometimes.

I keep a folder structure of my own, which contains every project I’m currently working on and all my past projects filed by year completed. I can be less formal in there, and keep correspondence, cut sheets, and so forth with the specs I’m working on.

I have two ways of resolving the problem David cited. I either work in my own realm, or I keep a shortcut to the project folder in my little fiefdom and use it to jump to the project’s folder. When the project’s done, I make a copy of the files to my own reference file and remove the shortcut.

The project folder contains the official spec as issued. We don’t usually control the rights to the spec folder separately from the project’s tree, but some projects with rollout specs restrict the spec master folder to just the lead specifier and the project manager.

Since I work on a laptop and work offline a lot, I use the Windows “Make Files Available Offline” feature for my current projects. The sync time is an issue, so I can’t keep too many projects going this way at once. I try to be very good about archiving the projects as soon as they’re done, and removing the offline files.

19

Wow, I feel so casual compared to some of the above postings. No Fort Knox going on here.

We keep our office masters and subscription masters on the server accessible by all.

Each project _spec is in the project folder accessible by all. The underscore forces the spec folder to the top of the list for my easy access.

I use desktop shortcuts to put me in the _spec folder immediately.

Wayne

20

At my firm specifications are kept in the project folder. The office master resides on my hard drive with a copy on the server and a copy on my home computer for those late nights.

The specifications are developed using the SpecLink software. Myself and several PMs and senior PAs also have the software (my boss’s decision), however only two of them actually know how to use it.

After the first major issuance the SpecLink file is exported to Word and maintained in word processing. These files are unprotected and there have been no issues to date. Additionally, a PDF file is made of each milestone submission and also stored in the project folder.