Anyone who's ever worked on an architecturally
designed project knows that construction specifications
provide information not found on the drawings. The drawings
may indicate a hardwood floor in the living room, but
it's the specifications that describe what species of wood to
use, what the moisture content of the flooring should be,
how to store the material on site, and what procedures to
follow during installation.
Most architects and designers organize their specs according
to the 16 major divisions of the Construction
Specifications Institute (CSI). The CSI structure has
become the standard of the industry (many estimating price
books are organized this way), but using the CSI system for
small residential projects is