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The Most Significant Professional Element YOU Provide

By CSI HQ posted 06-14-2019 04:53 PM

  

The Most Significant Professional Element YOU Provide

 

During CSI's latest Town Hall, Board Chair Ellen Crews said that as more spec writing is incorporated into software, it still needs to be operated by a pro. What do you think is the most significant professional element you provide?

From a current conversation on the CSI Connect Community page, here are some of the replies.

https://www.csiresources.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=dd5c6abd-6a1e-4c8e-aa3b-8e0b2a931813&CommunityKey=80c3b4dd-0d3f-4d4e-90f2-3bc6e4135dc2&tab=digestviewer#bmdd5c6abd-6a1e-4c8e-aa3b-8e0b2a931813

 

“Knowing what questions to ask and when; experience and judgement.”
David Metzger FCSI, Member Emeritus, CDT, FAIA, SCIP

 

“Exactly what Dave wrote. The software cannot interact with all the players—at least, not currently. The experience, the judgement, knowledge, and ability to put that together and solve the unique problem or address the current situation, needs more than software. There are too many variables, which can involve more than materials, for the team to rely on mere software.”
Lynn Javoroski FCSI, Member Emeritus, CCS, CDT, LEED AP, SCIP

 

“With my specialty, Bird Control, I have the uniqueness of my expertise and knowledge. More importantly, though, I bring ‘SERVICE’ to my clients. When engaged on a project I am in effect on-call to respond quickly at any time.

My clients know that they can call me any time and I will have good information for them in a timely manner such that they can resolve the issue quickly and move on to what's next. The creation of a spec for 10 81 13 is the easy part, but only once you have done all the precursor work through a lot of Q&A that goes on earlier in the process.”

Heath Waldorf CSI, CDT

 

“I tell my clients that the digital files that make up the project manual is the least important thing I provide, and the most important thing is my judgement and local/regional knowledge of the industry.

That is backed up by the work I do with my clients—I provide interpretations, additional research, opinions and examples from other current projects. I extrapolate industry issues, and provide some guidance on when to push back. I also bring in industry consultants to provide additional information if necessary to back up our documents.

Specification writers see the industry differently than most of the project managers—we work on multiple projects at the same time, theoretically are in touch with our counterparts across the country, and with the product reps. If there are problems with some product or system, I hear about it on five projects, not just one.  I see my job as being an intermediary between my office and the construction industry, and think it’s important to track trends before we start using them on our projects.”

Anne Whitacre FCSI, CCS, LEED AP

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