I2CS Engineering Process

I2CS Engineering Process. Integrated Infrastructure and Communications Systems Group.

Appendix B: Specifications. 2.

[Audio] Specifications play a large part in any project. They accompany the project drawings and provide requirements and information that may be difficult to portray on drawings. These can include the deliverables that needs to be submitted to the customer or their technical representative for their review and approval. Specifications provide the basic requirements of the products the customer wants us to use, how to install those projects to meet the customer's standards, and how the system needs to be tested to verify that it will work the way the customer expects it to. Specifications should be treated equally as all the other project documents. Drawings may take more time to produce, but that does not mean that they are more important than the specifications..

[Audio] Project specifications are the customer's way of communicating the project's requirements to contractors. This can include what the minimum qualifications are for the contractor to be considered to work on the project, what manufacturers they prefer product from, and even what tests you need to put the system through for the customer to accept it. As you can imagine, a lot of information can be conveyed to the contractor, and it is important that there is a unified way across the industry to do this. Imagine if each customer had their own format for project specifications. It would become difficult to manage the project's requirements for a Microsoft Data Center, to a Military Hospital. Therefore, an organization called Construction Specifications Institute, CSI for short, developed a standard format to communicate project specifications across the industry. This is called the Master Format Specifications. It is the gold standard that you will see on most formal construction projects in North America. All trades under the Architect, General Contractor, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing will have their requirements defined in this format. As you can imagine, this requires an organized structure to address everybody involved in building a building. CSI Master Format achieves this by defining 2 groups of specifications: The Procurement Group and The Contracting Group. The Procurement and Contracting Group is used to solicit the project and procure a team of contractors to perform the work that is needed. While the Contracting Group provides the project specific instructions to the team of contractors awarded the project. The Specifications Group is the largest part of a project's specifications book, so it is further subdivided into five sub-groups: The General Sub-group, The Facility Construction Sub-group, The Facility Services Sub-group, The Site Sub-group, and The Process Equipment Sub-group. Within each sub-group it is broken down further into "Divisions" for each of the different trades. There are 50 divisions defined for all the potential disciplines needed and some of the divisions are reserved so that as buildings become more complex in the future, there is space for new disciplines if needed. As we work our way down the specifications rabbit hole, you'll see that Divisions are a compilation of many "Sections". There are many facets to each disciplines scope of work. And typically, a system will have requirements that enable it to exist. For example, the telecommunications structured cabling system includes the space that all the equipment is centralized in, the cables that connect devices together, the pathways to carry the cables from point A to point B. These all have their own requirements so there may be a Telecom Spaces section, a Telecom Cabling section, and a Telecom Pathways section that details all that. Finally, each section, no matter which division or subgroup, are made up of three "Parts": Part 1 General, Part 2 Products, and Part 3 Execution. Part 1 will go over the general requirements of that section, from what Codes and Standards apply, to what submittals the contractor needs to provide to the customer for the customer to accept the system once it's complete. Next, Part 2 will go over what the requirements are for the products that will be needed to building the system. And Finally, Part 3 will go over the required installation and testing methods that ensures that the contractor turns over a.

[Audio] We took a look at the specifications book on the last slide using a top-down approach. Book to Group to Sub-group to Division to Section. Now let's take a look at it from the bottom up to really understand why having this structure works. On a typical commercial building you may have one-hundred contractors. And each contractor may have ten specification sections that they are responsible for. This results in 1000 specification sections of work that needs to be organized, coordinated, and communicated. Officially, the communications section has 23 sections in the Master Format, but can have as many at 110 sections. Imagine being the owner of the building, how are you going to keep track of all that? By compiling the sections into different divisions that are grouped by discipline. Take a look at the diagram above. The bottom row shows several sections that are relevant to telecom, but keep in mind that there may also be requirements in other discipline sections that contribute to OR affect the telecommunications scope. Starting from the bottom left there are two sections that begin with 0 1 that go over how to put together the submittal documents that we need to submit to the customer to approve and accept the system. And go over what to do at different stages of the project like at the close-out. Since these requirements apply to all the contractors on a project, they are compiled in Division 1, which is called the General Division. Keep in mind that each discipline's Division will have more discipline specific requirements for these general requirements. Division 1 is part of the General requirements Sub-group which is the smallest Sub-group of the five Sub-groups. Next, we have the Facility Construction Sub-group which groups Divisions 2 through 19. These Divisions and their sections describe the requirements for the general construction of the building. This could include the Concrete work for the building's foundations; requirements for the walls, windows and doors of the building; and even the carpeting and wall paint requirements for the building. It is important to reference this section when to consider how our system will complement the aesthetics of the building, coordinate mounting details for our devices, RF signal propagation through the materials being used, etc. Looking at the bottom row again, you'll see several sections that begin with 26 and 27. The sections that begin with 26 describe the electrical requirements of the building, and the sections that begin with 27 describe the telecommunications requirements of the building. All the 26 sections are compiled into Division 26 for the Electrical discipline, and all the sections that begin with the number 27 are compiled into Division 27 for the Telecommunications discipline. And another Division to note is Division 28 which have the sections for the Electronic Safety and Security disciplines. So, you can see here at each section is codified to begin with the discipline that they are compiled under. These divisions are part of the sub-group named Facility Services which groups all the systems in the building's walls. The last section on the bottom row provides the building's utility requirements for the telecommunications work outside of the building. It is compiled with other sections for other disciplines in Division 33 and grouped under the Site and Infrastructure Sub-group for systems outside of the building's walls. The last Sub-group is one that we should reference as necessary. The {Process.

[Audio] Here are the five Sub-groups of the Specifications Group again. You can see a sampling of the Divisions within each Sub-group and get a feel for how they came to be grouped that way. Facility Construction holds the requirements for the construction of the building itself. Facility Services holds the requirements for the systems inside the building. Systems like mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. Site and Infrastructure holds the requirements for construction outside of the building. And Processes Equipment holds the requirements for the systems that the building is being built around. Note that the building's Communications requirements can be found in Division 27 of the Facility Services Group. Sometimes communications requirements can be found in the other Facility Services Divisions. Division 26 has the Electrical pathways and grounding and bonding requirements, but a lot of those requirements transfer over to communications. Division 28 has the Life safety system requirements and the emergency communications systems in this division will take priority over normal operations communications in Division 27. So don't just look at Division 27 and ignore all the others because they don't explicitly say "communications" in the title..

[Audio] Here are the Divisions that we commonly refer to and some of the sections that make them up. On the left side we have Division 0 1 which directly molds how all the contractor's deliverables are produced and the work is performed. Do not forget about this division when producing your engineering documents. Section 0 1 33 0 0 goes over how to format and produce submittals such as product data submittals, shop drawing submittals, and test plans. It even tells you the minimum size paper to use for your shop drawings. Division 26 has sections that are commonly shared with telecom. You'll see references to 26 0 5 in the telecom pathway specs. Division 28 references Division 26 and 27, for similar reasons. Then on the right side of the screen you'll see a sampling of Telecom sections. You'll notice that each section has a 6 digit code. They all start with the number 27 to indicate that it's a communications Division 27 spec. But the third and fourth digits are used to further divide the scope further within the Division. If the third digit is a 0, then the section goes over general communications requirements. If the third digit is a 1, then the section provides requirements for the structured cabling system. And if the third digit is a 5, then the section details the requirements for low voltage systems such as Public Address, Sound Masking, and Distributed Antenna Systems. Lastly, site utility communication sections can be found in Division 33. Refer here for underground duct bank requirements, utility box requirements, etc..

[Audio] Now let's look at the format for a specification section. Whether you are reading or writing a spec section, for a design or build project, you will need to know the format that each specification section follows. There are three parts in every section. Part 1, General. Part 2, Products. And Part 3 Execution. On the next slides we will go over each part in further detail.

[Audio] Part 1 provides a system description for what each section is for. It also identifies the codes and standards that you need to reference when designing and building the system. And it lists out the submittals that the installation contractor will need to provide to the customer for them to accept the final system. On design projects, Engineering is responsible for describing the functional requirements of the system in the system description, determining what codes and standards the system should comply with in the summary, and what submittals the installation contractor needs to produce in the submittals paragraphs. The designer is acting on the customer's behalf to convey what they can't. The specifications is how that is done. The specifications describe what can't be drawn on drawings. The specifications also need to correspond to the information shown on the drawings and not have conflicting information. On build projects, Engineering should not overlook Part 1. It is easy to do, but this is how you know what engineering deliverables we are responsible for producing. These deliverables are contractually owed to the customer. They are paying us to provide them, and by not providing them, we are asking to pay us money for a product that they won't receive. The submittals paragraphs also tells us what engineering deliverables not to produce. For example, if shop drawings is not listed in the required submittals, then the customer technically did not pay us to produce shop drawings. So, producing a full set of shop drawings will use up our limited engineering budget. If it is easy enough to modify the contract drawing PDFs, then don't waste time recreating drawings that are not required, just mark them up with device IDs and annotations to make them constructable. If the contract drawings are not constructable, then hopefully the Engineering Leader realized that at the bid and built in time to develop constructable drawings. Either way, minimize the effort needed to convey construction information to the technicians without burning the engineering budget. Create individual sheets to slip sheet into the contract drawings, add notes to the contract drawing PDFs, etc..

[Audio] Part 2 describes the components that make up the system and the performance requirements for each of these components. These can be simple requirements like the color or the shape. Or they can be functional requirements that describe how well the product is spec'd to perform. Some customers will also have preferred manufacturers and products that they want to be used in their building. On design projects, Engineering is responsible for identifying what products are needed to build the system and list them out in the products part of the spec. The designer needs to consider what manufacturers provide a solution that meets the intended design of the system. They also need to identify the performance requirements for each product. There are hundreds of options for each component out there. If the engineer does not clearly set the bar for each product, it could lead to a sub-par system once the builder gets their hands on it. On build projects, Engineering is responsible for selecting products to procure and install. They need to find solutions that meet the minimum performance requirements outlined by the designer yet consider the cost of the equipment and availability of the equipment. The engineer will also use this to produce their product data submittal. One way to lower the project's risks is to submit the product data sheet for all products we intend to use to the customer for their approval. Once the customer approves the products, they are basically telling the builder that if the customer doesn't like the product after we install it, then the customer will need to pay to change it out. However, if the builder does not submit product data to the customer to approve, then the builder is at risk of the customer not liking the product that they bought and installed and will need to replace it with something the customer approves of..

[Audio] Part 3 outlines how the customer wants the builder to install the system and how the customer wants the builder to certify that the system works the way it is supposed to. On design projects, Engineering is responsible for understanding the best way to install the system for the customer and detailing it for the builder to read. This involves reviewing the codes and standards to make sure that the installation practices are industry practiced, coordinating with potential manufacturers to understand how to install their products, and coordinating with the other discipline's designers to produce a coordinated solution. The designer needs to clearly write this all down and make sure that it is understandable to someone outside of the project to interpret. On build projects, Engineering is responsible for reading the installation requirements provided by the customer and interpret it to meet the requirements and if possible, produce a solution that is inexpensive to provide. The engineer needs to take the products they identified in part 2, review the codes and standards, talk to the manufacturers of those products, and coordinate with the other discipline's build engineers to provide a coordinated solution. This solution should be clearly depicted on the shop drawings. Coordinated device locations and cable routes should be clear. Mounting and assembly details should be applicable for the construction of the building. And it should be clear how all devices need to be wired. On design projects, Engineering is also responsible for understanding the best way to verify that the system is functioning the way it is supposed to. If the designer is writing the certification requirements for cables, then they should reference the telecommunications standards which dictate how each type of cable should perform. If the designer is writing the certification requirements for a low voltage system, then they need to consider how the system is supposed to function. Are there supposed to be distinct zones in a public address system? What is the minimum RF signal level and coverage percentage for a distributed antenna system. These are all things that the designer needs to be aware of and dictate to the installer so that they can be sure that the system will work the way that the designer intended it to. On build projects, Engineering is also responsible for writing the acceptance test plan submittal. This is an important submittals that proves the installers understanding of the systems performance requirements. It is also another means to lower the risk on the project. The engineer needs to indicate each test being performed to certify the system, what equipment will be used for those tests, and what the pass and fail parameters are for each test. Once the customer reviews and accepts the test plan, they are basically saying that if you the installer test the system the way that you indicated in the plan, then we will accept the system. However, if the installer does not submit a test plan, then they are taking on the risk that the tests that they perform will not be accepted by the customer and will potentially have to retest everything at their own cost..

[Audio] Regardless of which type of project you are working on, you are the engineer. You are responsible for understanding the technical requirements of the system as dictated in the industry's codes and standards. You are responsible for understanding the solution, the parts and pieces that make up the system, and the tests needed to verify that the system works the way it is supposed to. If you are the designer, then it is your job to narrate that story so that it is clear to the customer and the installer what the solution needs to be. We have Master Format specification templates for the communications Division 27. As you work with the customer to identify the requirements of the project, as you research solutions, as you review the codes and standards, you will need to take these templates and modify them to reflect the project's requirements. These templates will have options for you to select. These templates will have fields for you to fill out. These templates are templates and will work for 50% of the projects, but most projects are unique and will need you to customize them for the project. It is not acceptable to just take a template and change the header to the project's name. That is not engineering. If you are the build engineer, then it is your job to understand what it is the designer has provided to you to build the system they are looking for. You need to understand and review the codes and standards the specifications want you to adhere to. You need to understand what submittals we are responsible for producing and not producing. You need to understand the product requirements and be able to research and select products for your project. You need to be able to understand how the customer wants the system to be installed and verified. If you don't understand this, and you don't implement these solutions in your submittals, then you are creating more risks on the project then is necessary. You are an engineer. Engineer the solution. If you don't know, then ask..

[Audio] Projects are not built with drawings and the RFP. Projects are built using drawings and specifications. The field should never have to refer to the RFP for an answer. Every requirement needs to be included in the specifications..

Questions?. Integrated Infrastructure & Communications Systems Group.