tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6416426589713285085.post9185682804376877641..comments2024-02-28T02:23:50.477-06:00Comments on Constructive Thoughts: Are specifiers an endangered species?Sheldonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13799057838622646083noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6416426589713285085.post-88656439808921290402015-04-16T11:17:07.868-05:002015-04-16T11:17:07.868-05:00I also have questioned the value of scholarships. ...I also have questioned the value of scholarships. If they are open to anyone, the odds are that the recipients will not work in construction, and will not become CSI members. Awarding scholarships then becomes a feel-good act that will be help the student but do little for our organization or our industry, and almost certainly will not go to a future specifier. <br /><br />Another problem with scholarships is that they often are given to college students, thereby excluding those who go to vo-tech schools and trade apprenticeship programs, two groups of people who are much more likely to work in construction. <br /><br />One of the most popular competitions has been "canstruction." I'm sure everyone has a great time, but it seems building something with construction materials would be more apt, and more beneficial to the participants. It also might be more interesting to convention attendees, and more likely to draw them to witness the competition. <br /><br />All awards should require something in return from the recipients. It might be a written report, or it might be a presentation at a meeting of the sponsoring chapter, but those who contribute to the award must be acknowledged in some tangible way. <br /><br />Thanks for your comments, Tony! I like your suggestion; you should submit it to the awards committees. I don't think it should replace other efforts to help students and young professionals, but it would be an interesting addition. Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13799057838622646083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6416426589713285085.post-73499600637251801202015-04-16T08:16:51.956-05:002015-04-16T08:16:51.956-05:00Specifiers have a terrible image, even among archi...Specifiers have a terrible image, even among architects who we are constantly saving from foolishness. Do I hear canes tapping in agreement?<br /><br />I think we should focus on 2 points in your article: 1) Few people go to school planning to be specifiers. 2) Few people choose the specs specialty until they’ve tasted the bitter realities of the architectural profession.<br /><br />I ask: Why do many CSI chapters offer scholarships? How many winners go on to become specifiers? Other than some minimal PR and self-back-pats, do these scholarships offer any benefits to our specialty?<br /><br />I maintain that, rather than scholarships, we offer grants for research to young professionals. This can be done as an annual competition, or an ongoing process of submission, evaluation, award, and publishing. Research scholarships will focus on one of our more important activities, will target those most likely to consider specs work, and by taking the focus off construction documents, will improve our image among architects, who we are constantly saving from foolishness [as we all heartily agree and discuss whenever we gather in person or chat rooms].<br /><br />What happened to the approving canes?<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11369493047734617338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6416426589713285085.post-11178622955648673322015-04-14T15:06:53.808-05:002015-04-14T15:06:53.808-05:00Thanks for the comment, David, and for the kind wo...Thanks for the comment, David, and for the kind words! <br /><br />It certainly is possible that BIM can make not only specifying, but use of specifications, easier. For that to happen the information must be controlled and the format must be consistent. That suggests that the person entering the information must understand what it means and how it will be used. It can't be created or edited by someone just out of school, or by a CAD jockey. I don't think we're dying so much as evolving.<br /><br />In a sense, the construction industry is at the same point it was fifty years ago. There was little consistency in the way information was created, stored, or used, until CSI produced the Manual of Practice and the Formats documents. The difference is that while we were concerned with putting stuff on paper back then, today the problem is finding the best way to handle information digitally. To do that requires a paradigm shift; instead of trying to force the information to look like it's on paper, we need to find the best way to enter, view, and use the information in the model. Should specifications continue to look like they were generated on a Smith-Corona? Shouldn't we have an interface that allows users to look at the information they want, in the format best suited to that information?<br /><br />I also would like to know what is going on in firms that use BIM. Who is creating the objects? Who is editing the properties? How is that information being used - or is it? Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13799057838622646083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6416426589713285085.post-23212196474934616932015-04-14T14:02:38.112-05:002015-04-14T14:02:38.112-05:00Excellent article Sheldon. As with most things I r...Excellent article Sheldon. As with most things I read from you, you have hit the nail right on the head. My perception is that BIM will help list the products available for an application, but it will still be specifiers who decide what is best for that application, at the beginning of the Project, so that modeling can be done with the selected manufacturers product models (or a generic model) and then BIM will write the spec from that, and the specifier will review that written spec, and make minor edits. I don't think we'll be endangered, at least not in the near future, until ways to compare products and select them becomes MUCH easier for the Architect. And even then, they may still let it up to us. We are a dying breed, yes, but I don't see extinction on the horizon anytime soon. Of course I am over 55 and have been writing specs for 15 years, so I'd like to hear from those Architects who are currently using BIM, and having it write their initial specs, see what they have to say about the current process.David Wrigley, CSI, CCShttp://www.spillmanfarmer.comnoreply@blogger.com