Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Procedures, 4th Edition

By Harold J. Rosen

Next to technical references and a computer, the specifier's most valuable tool . . . A familiarity with the physical and chemical properties of materials, advanced construction techniques as well as the legal requirements, contract forms, and warranty provisions of specifications is essential to a specifier's task. Integrating these into a clearly written, accurate project plan that everyone can understand and use makes the specifier the key critical to a construction project's success. This newest edition of the comprehensive rulebook to the specifier's craft, Construction Specifications Writing has been updated to reflect the latest industry standards (including those from the AIA and CSI) as well as recent changes in computerized specifications, such as expert systems and database management. Yet the practical core of the book, its project-tested guidelines for creating specifications, continues to offer solid advice on every aspect of the process--Principles, Bidding Procedures, Conditions of the Contract, and Procedures (including how to select the right vocabulary and actually write specifications)--as well as how to organize and rank its various phases. A project manual checklist also provides a blueprint of the entire specification process ensuring that all requirements are fulfilled. The book also includes tips on using the CSI Masterformat; master texts from the U.S. military, NASA, federal civilian agencies, and the National Institute of Building Sciences; as well as end-of-chapter test questions. Still the most practical desktop tool a professional can own, this Fourth Edition of Construction Specifications Writing will help the architect, engineer, or project specifier create a construction project plan that is clearly written, up to standard--and feasible.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471190322
• ISBN13: 9780471190325
• Release Date: November 1998
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 3.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 8.5" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

Good product

I have found this text to be highly useful in explaining the purpose and content of specifications. The text provides a comprehensive and detailed overview of what should be in a specification. The only thing that might have been better was if the authors had spent more time on the technical specs and less on the EJCDC and other standard items that do not appreciably change. All in all though, this is an excellent text and well worth the price.

Response to Uninformed Review

The previous reviewer obviously has not read the book that he rated so low. Harold J. Rosen is an Honorary member of The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), an honor given to few CSI members. This book, in its first edition, predates the CSI Manual of Practice, and it has been updated over several decades. Construction Specifications Writing: Principles and Practices has been the leading textbook for teaching construction specifications at colleges and universities. The 4th edition has been superseded by an expanded and updated 5th edition, co-authored by this reviewer, that is consistent with the CSI Manual of Practice and includes more examples and resources than CSI's MOP.