Simplify your mechanical specification writing

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The demand for smart, connected buildings is rising. And, as a result, the number of products, services, and technologies you incorporate into your specifications will follow suit. Unfortunately, not all engineering businesses have a controls expert on staff, meaning you may be spending countless hours researching, copying, and pasting to create complex specs for Division 23 Mechanical Specification and Division 25 Integrated Automation Specification.

Whether you’re incorporating lighting controls into an existing manufacturing facility, or HVAC for a state-of-the-art apartment complex, you need to be sure you specify the project to your client’s specific needs — quickly and accurately. One way to accomplish this is by using a digital mechanical engineering tool.

Cue Spec Designer, a tool that helps mechanical engineers like yourself write detailed specifications for Division 23 and Division 25 in minutes. In this blog, I take a deeper dive into this helpful resource.

One tool, open access

Spec Designer is an open and free web-based tool designed to simplify the specification process, which is often time-consuming and cumbersome.

Using Spec Designer, any engineer can create precise specifications for:

• Division 230923: Direct Digital Control System for HVAC
• Division 230993: Sequence of Operations for HVAC Controls
• Division 250010: Intelligent Building Management Systems
• Additional supporting specifications

Spec Designer eliminates the need for you to reconcile contradicting codes and specs, keep tabs on updates, or rely on a complex spreadsheet organization system.

The tool is:

• Time-saving: Generate a specification sheet in minutes, not hours
• Accurate: Specifications follow the MasterFormat® outline format
• Neutral: All documents are vendor-agnostic unless you specify otherwise
• Accessible: Web-based and available publicly for free
• Detailed: Add pre-populated sequence controls and points lists
• Future-ready: Tool is regularly updated and expanded based on code updates and user feedback

Because it simplifies the entire specification writing process, you can think of Spec Designer as an easy button for your business.

Six simple steps for mechanical engineers

It takes less than a minute to create accurate mechanical specifications for your project.

Step 1: Access the Spec Designer tool Welcome page. Select “Get Started.”

Step 2: Input general project information into six fields, including your project name and email. Your inputs will auto-populate on the headers and footers of your final spec sheets.

Step 3: Answer 17 mandatory questions to help build out the bulk of your specification sheet. The most important question is the first one — it’s where you note the field bus level. The subsequent questions in this step indicate smaller changes you may need to make on the Division 23 or Division 25 specifications, such as smoke control or fault detection.

Step 4: Add any optional inputs that you may need to add based on your customer needs, such as pre-qualified bidders and additional controls.

Step 5: Include any pre-populated systems sequence controls and points lists for air handling units, exhaust fans, etc. — a significant time-saver.

Step 6: Finalize your specifications. On average, it takes between 15 – 30 seconds to generate a zip file with your design specs. You will also receive a unique saved system code that you may use to reload your specification at a later time.

The specifications you need, now

There’s no time like the present to start working smarter. Visit the Spec Designer website to try it for yourself.