The scandal of cut-and-paste specification

B&ES, specification, Model format for building services specifications
Towards effective specifications — Andy Sneyd

Specification writing is falling far short of the standard required to support modern methods of construction and is undermining supply chain collaboration, according to Andy Sneyd, president of B&ES (Building & Engineering Services Association).

Specification writing is in crisis. Lazy ‘cut-and-paste’ designs are leaving clients with poorly performing buildings. This could be regarded as a form of fraud, with clients misled about how much their requirements are being taken into account.

The new ‘Model format for building services specifications’ (BG56/2015)*, a joint B&ES, CIBSE, and BSRIA publication, is a genuine attempt to tackle this escalating problem — one that is undermining all our attempts to improve our sector’s performance.

It is designed to be simple and easy to follow so that clients can see clearly what they are signing up to and refer back to at various stages of the project and post-handover.

It strips out much of the complexity and gobbledegook that has crept into the specification process over the years as individual so-called ‘master’ specification documents, often used for decades by companies, have drifted further and further out of date and away from current technical standards.

The proliferation of ‘cut and paste’ specifications is the result of the status of the specification writer being relegated in importance and because reduced fees have encouraged many consultants to cut corners. This is causing confusion, pricing errors and contractual disputes right across the industry as well as undermining the Government’s stated aim of reducing the cost of construction by 30%.

Digital

Many of the specification templates used by companies are more than 30 years old, which means they cannot be easily translated into the digital formats required to deliver modern construction methods and be integrated into building information modelling (BIM).

No matter how much technology changes, specification will remain at the heart of M&E engineering, and how we communicate is vital if we are going to get the details right from the outset and remove the ambiguity of interpretation that leads to compromised designs. That is why we need a consistent approach and a format that can be intelligible to all.

Jo Harris, head of BSRIA’s sustainable construction group, has pointed out that lack of consistency in the way the supply chain exchanges information is increasing contractual risk. The wider adoption of BIM will be impossible, she believes, without a concise, repeatable format providing structure and order to the specification process.

During the launch of the new standard format, she said, The current approach encourages people to dump information at different stages of the project and then start again. That is hugely inefficient.’

The importance of a clear specification does not end with the handing over a building project. In fact, the need for clearer detail becomes even more apparent during the building’s operational life.

CIBSE’s technical director Hywel Davies also thinks standard specifications are key to wider industry collaboration. ‘Constructors need to understand the reasoning behind a design otherwise value engineering will become “vandal” engineering and the original intent will be lost,’ he said.

He also agreed that the legal implications are frightening: ‘Screwing up the specification is writing a blank cheque for lawyers.’

A group of B&ES members kickstarted the process of developing the model format because of their increasing frustration with the standard of specifications and the problems this was causing them on site.

Andrew Blunsdon, managing director of Bristol-based Priddy Engineering and a member of the association’s steering group set up under the auspices of B&ES Wales was also at the launch: ‘I got involved because I wanted to see if there was real appetite for change — if companies in our sector seriously wanted to consider what it is that their clients need from projects, The specification needs to be simple and straightforward and not full of onerous conditions and back-covering words.’

The result of industry collaboration — the ‘Model format for building services specifications’.

Andrew Blunsdon, who is also chairman of the B&ES education committee, believes there are few more important tasks for B&ES and the other industry bodies to tackle: ‘People are churning out woolly documents that are 90% complete before they have even met the client. The contractor has the task of trying to make hundreds of pages of nonsense work on a project site. We then get criticised for making mistakes!

‘At worst this is fraud because the client ends up with someone else’s project. At best, it is just laziness.’

However, he is encouraged that the collaborative effort on the new model format from the three organisations (B&ES, CIBSE and BSRIA) proves that change is possible. ‘However, if nobody uses it then it will be a huge waste of effort,’ he cautioned.

All the members agreed that specifications needed to be clearer and free of ambiguity because the risk of disputes and project ‘variations’ is far too high. We need clear and concise writing.

Ray Phillips, regional director of SRW Engineering Services (part of Skanska), was another member of the B&ES group, who worked on the format. He said the ‘cut and paste’ approach was a serious problem and a hangover from the recession.

‘Consultants’ specifications vary considerably in quality,’ he said. ‘Our estimating team has to dissect these and consider them very carefully to ensure we fully understand the actual project requirements.’

He said the recession had led to many consultants taking on projects for ‘unsustainable fees’ and that in an attempt to reduce their time and cost commitment produce specifications that ‘have been copied and pasted from previous projects and do not reflect the client’s requirements’.

He said many also fail to check whether they are up to date with current standards and practices.

‘This situation often leads to conflict between the contracting parties which takes up everyone’s time and resources. This all ends up costing more than if the documentation had been correctly constructed at the outset,’ said Mr Phillips.

‘The practice of specifications resembling telephone directories containing hundreds of thousands of words with only a few pages being actually relevant to the project must end,’ he added. ‘For our part, we will ensure that our appointed consultants produce specifications in line with the model format in future.’

The initiative for a model format was first mooted by members of B&ES Wales, whose national executive officer Andrew Marchant welcomed the publication as a ‘vital and tangible response to their serious concerns’.

Collaboration

‘We are particularly indebted to BSRIA for recognising that the issues raised by our members were of real relevance, and to our counterparts at CIBSE, who saw that this needed serious attention,’ said Mr Marchant. ‘Hopefully this excellent publication will encourage greater collaboration in the future.’

A culture of collaboration needs to be in place from the outset, even before the specification is written, so the necessary information exchange can take place and there can be technical clarity and rigour from day one. That must be the goal we are all striving for and it will end up saving everyone money too.

The alternative is a compromised design, which leads to disputes, delays, cost over-runs and, eventually, legal action. There is no bigger indictment of our industry than poor specification writing; it is the single biggest hindrance to our attempts to modernise the supply chain and improve collaboration.

The big loser is the client who ends up paying more for a building — a building that isn’t even the one he thought he had specified.

Andy Sneyd is president of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES).

*’The Model Format for Building Services Specifications’ (BG56/2015) costs £48 for BSRIA members and £96 for non-members. It can be ordered at the link below.

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