One story, two lessons!  Recently, I was the specifications consultant on an all-new school building, which was built on a piece of previously-undeveloped land.

The general contractor and owner had a negotiated Construction Manager as Constructor¹ Agreement, including preconstruction services, and the general contractor had been involved with the project for months by the time the documents went out to bid. 

A few days after the documents went out to bid, I received an email from the contractor (via the project architect) that said something like, “There are no Division 2 specifications in the spec book.  When will those be issued?”

Division 2, in MasterFormat 2004, is “Existing Conditions,” and usually mainly covers demolition of existing structures.  (We had no demo on this project.)  In MasterFormat 1995, Division 2 was “Site Construction.”  Sitework spec sections are what the contractor was looking for.

Sure, some people are still unfamiliar with MasterFormat 2004.  However…

For this project, we’d had site construction specification sections in Divisions 31, 32, and 33 for months, since the Design Development issue.  The Table of Contents at Design Development, and of course, the Table of Contents in the documents that were being bid on, clearly indicated that sitework was in Divisions 31, 32, and 33.

Since the general contractor had an agreement with the owner for preconstruction services, and had been providing preliminary budget pricing, these Construction Documents weren’t the first time the contractor had seen the Project Manual.  I’d expect even people unfamiliar with MasterFormat 2004 to have noticed where sitework sections were, since they had been working on the project for months. 

But, even if they hadn’t been paying attention for all those months, all they needed to do was to look at the Project Manual Table of Contents.

If the sitework subs, or the general contractor, or the project architect had just looked at the Table of Contents in the Project Manual, this embarrassing question would have never made its way to the specifications consultant.

Two lessons:

First, sitework spec sections are now in Divisions 31, 32, and 33.  They are no longer in Division 2, unless you’re using the now-outdated CSI MasterFormat 1995.

Second, if everyone would just read the info they have already been given, before asking questions, we’d have fewer regrettable questions.

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1. Construction Manager as Constructor is called CMGC (Construction Manager / General Contractor) around here (Denver), GCCM (General Contractor / Construction Manager) some other places, and CMAR (Construction Manager at Risk) in other places.

I recently wrote a technical article for the CSI Denver Chapter website, called “Why Specify a Level 5 Gypsum Board Finish?”

It’s written for an audience who already knows a little about gypsum board finish levels.  But not all design and construction professionals know much about gypsum board finish levels.  (Even though I worked as an architect before I started writing specs, I am not sure I knew there were different levels of gypsum board finish until I became a specifier.)  So, this post includes both some of the basics on gypsum board finish levels, and a sort of a counterpoint to the point made by my article.  (The point of that article, which can be found at http://www.denvercsi.org/journal/2011/6/3/why-specify-a-level-5-gypsum-board-finish.html , is that a Level 5 Gypsum Board Finish is the industry standard when higher sheen paints are to be used.)

After all the gypsum board panels are installed (typically, by being screwed to the framing), they get “finished” with tape, joint compound, and accessories such as corner beads.  The gypsum board spec section indicates the level of  finish that is required to be achieved.  Descriptions of the finish levels and their recommended locations are at the end of this article.  The levels go from 0 to 5, with each level getting progressively smoother.

Level 5 is a Level 4 plus a skim coat of joint compound (drywall mud) applied over the entire surface of the gypsum board.  Even if you haven’t heard of a Level 5 Gypsum Board Finish, you’ve probably heard of architects requiring a skim coat over the gypsum board.  Level 5 involves more material and more labor, and therefore Level 5 costs more than Level 4. 

Sometimes the costs rule, and Owners don’t want to pay for a Level 5 finish.  But a discussion among project team members about gypsum board finish levels shouldn’t end there.  Things to make sure that everyone understands are the following: 

The more sheen, or gloss, that a paint has, the more starkly the irregularities in the substrate will show.  (A gloss paint has a lot of sheen.  A flat paint has very little sheen.)  If the Owner insists on a semi-gloss paint on gypsum board substrates, as many Owners on school projects do (for cleanability), irregularities in the substrate will show, especially in severe lighting conditions.  The thing to do is to reduce the irregularities.  The industry has come to an agreement about the best treatment for substrates to receive higher sheen paints, and that is a Level 5 Gypsum Board Finish.  If Level 5 is cost prohibitive, architects should not just agree to spec a Level 4 and hope that it looks acceptable; other measures can be taken with the goal of achieving the same uniformity of substrate provided by a Level 5 finish.  If other measures are also cost prohibitive, the architect should suggest switching to a flat paint, or should make sure that the Owner understands, before the gypsum board is painted with a higher sheen paint, that it may not look as great as they’re hoping it will, and that they’ll just have to accept that, having rejected the industry standards as being cost prohibitive. 

Some individual paint and gypsum board manufacturers have other requirements beyond the standard published by the Gypsum Association – some are more restrictive and some are less restrictive. 

For example, on the less restrictive side, some paint manufacturers produce high-build primers that are intended to replicate a Level 5 gypsum board finish when applied over Level 4 finishes.  High-build primers have the ability to fill in a substrate to a limited extent, and can provide a more uniform surface than a regular primer can.  The Level 4 finish has to be properly executed for this to work.  Some paint manufacturers accept this approach in lieu of a Level 5 finish for higher sheen paints.    

On the more restrictive side, one paint manufacturer’s rep has told me that since a true Level 5 is so hard to achieve, many painters prefer to use a high-build primer in every case when higher sheen paints will be used, even when a Level 5 has been provided. 

On the less restrictive side, another paint manufacturer’s rep has told me that although Level 5 is best for semi-gloss paint, an acceptable appearance can be achieved, even with semi-gloss paint, if a Level 4 gypsum board finish is properly done, and an appropriate primer is used.  (This is the situation that you’d want to make sure that a cost-cutting Owner understands going in.  It’ll be acceptable, but probably not up to the industry standard.)    

A well respected spec writer in the Denver area, Jon Willis of ASCS, Inc., has told me that a Level 5 finish shouldn’t be necessary, even for higher sheen paints, if all the following conditions are met: layouts are chalked (and then strictly followed), plumbness and levelness of installed framing is verified with a laser, 5/8-inch gypsum board is used on the walls (not 1/2-inch), quality gypsum board installers are used, a Level 4 finish is done properly, the joint treatment extends at least 6 inches beyond the joint on each side, a high quality setting-type of joint compound is used for the first 2 coats, and a vinyl formulation topping joint compound is used for the final coat, each coat of compound is allowed to dry thoroughly and then gets sanded before the next coat is applied, all surface imperfections such as screws and tool marks are given the same 3 coats of compound that the joints receive, the finish coat gets a rough sanding first, followed by a fine sanding, a quality painter is used, high quality high-solids primer and finish coats are used (and aren’t thinned), primer plus a minimum of 2 coats of finish paint are used, and if the paint is spray-applied, the final coat of wet paint should be backrolled with a roller to achieve a light orange peel surface. 

The emphasis in the above approach is on the quality of the work and the quality of the materials.  With this approach, since the installers won’t be using more material to cover up imperfections in the substrate, the installation and finishing of the substrate are required to be more skillfully executed, and higher quality materials are required to be used. 

In construction, things are literally built on the things that go before them.  When the layouts are snapped accurately and then followed during framing, it’s easier to get plumb framing.  When framing is plumb and gypsum board installation is well executed, different panels of gypsum board will be plumb.  When different panels of gypsum board are plumb, the joints between them will be visually minimized.  When joints are minimal to begin with, joint treatment ends up being less extensive.  When joint treatment is less extensive, less joint compound is used, and therefore less sanding is required… you see where I’m going with this.  The quality of the work that precedes affects the quality of the work that follows. 

So, my advice to architects is to talk to the Owner about expectations for painted surfaces, and the tradeoffs between costs and appearances.  The contract documents must clearly convey the intent for the expectations for the appearances of painted surfaces.  Talk to your paint and gypsum board manufacturers’ reps about their recommendations for your specific project.  Consider whether the project is to be bid or negotiated.  If negotiated, talk to the general contractor and his drywaller and his painter.  If it’s to be a hard bid project, consider the skill level of the framers, drywallers, and painters you might get on your project.  There are many factors to consider.                  

I encourage your comments!

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The following are descriptions of gypsum board finish levels from “Recommended Levels of Gypsum Board Finish” published by the Gypsum Association.

Level 0:  No taping, finishing, or accessories required.  (Accessories include items such as cornerbeads.) 

Level 1:  All joints and interior angles shall have tape set in joint compound. Surface shall be free of excess joint compound.  Tool marks and ridges are acceptable.

Level 2:  All joints and interior angles shall have tape embedded in joint compound and wiped with a joint knife leaving a thin coating of joint compound over all joints and interior angles. Fastener heads and accessories shall be covered with a coat of joint compound. Surface shall be free of excess joint compound. Tool marks and ridges are acceptable. Joint compound applied over the body of the tape at the time of tape embedment shall be considered a separate coat of joint compound and shall satisfy the conditions of this level.

Level 3: All joints and interior angles shall have tape embedded in joint compound and shall be immediately wiped with a joint knife leaving a thin coating of joint compound over all joints and interior angles. One additional coat of joint compound shall be applied over all joints and interior angles. Fastener heads and accessories shall be covered with two separate coats of joint compound. All joint compound shall be smooth and free of tool marks and ridges. Note: It is recommended that the prepared surface be coated with a drywall primer prior to the application of final finishes.

Level 4:  All joints and interior angles shall have tape embedded in joint compound and shall be immediately wiped with a joint knife leaving a thin coating of joint compound over all joints and interior angles. Two separate coats of joint compound shall be applied over all flat joints and one separate coat of joint compound shall be applied over interior angles. Fastener heads and accessories shall be covered with three separate coats of joint compound. All joint compound shall be smooth and free of tool marks and ridges. Note: It is recommended that the prepared surface be coated with a drywall primer prior to the application of final finishes.

Level 5:  All joints and interior angles shall have tape embedded in joint compound and shall be immediately wiped with a joint knife leaving a thin coating of joint compound over all joints and interior angles. Two separate coats of joint compound shall be applied over all flat joints and one separate coat of joint compound shall be applied over interior angles. Fastener heads and accessories shall be covered with three separate coats of joint compound. A thin skim coat of joint compound trowel applied, or a material manufactured especially for this purpose and applied in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations, applied to the entire surface. The surface shall be smooth and free of tool marks and ridges. Note: It is recommended that the prepared surface be coated with a drywall primer prior to the application of finish paint.

The following are recommended locations for different gypsum board finish levels from “Recommended Levels of Gypsum Board Finish” published by the Gypsum Association.

Level 0 Locations:  This level of finish may be useful in temporary construction or whenever the final decoration has not been determined.

Level 1 Locations:  Frequently specified in plenum areas above ceilings, in attics, in areas where the assembly would generally be concealed or in building service corridors, and other areas not normally open to public view.  Accessories are optional in corridors and other areas with pedestrian traffic.  Some degree of sound and smoke control is provided; in some geographic areas this level is referred to as “fire-taping.” Where a fire-resistance rating is required for the gypsum board assembly, details of construction shall be in accordance with reports of fire tests of assemblies that have met the fire-rating requirement. Tape and fastener heads need not be covered with joint compound.

Level 2 Locations:  Specified where gypsum board is used as a substrate for tile; may be specified in garages, warehouse storage or other similar areas where surface appearance is not of primary concern.

Level 3 Locations:  Typically specified in appearance areas which are to receive heavy- or medium-texture (spray or hand applied) finishes before final painting, or where heavy-grade wallcoverings are to be applied as the final decoration. This level of finish is not recommended where smooth painted surfaces or light to medium wallcoverings are specified.

Level 4 Locations:  This level should be specified where flat paints, light textures, or wallcoverings are to be applied.  In critical lighting areas, flat paints applied over light textures tend to reduce joint photographing. Paints with sheen levels other than flat and enamel paints are not recommended over this level of finish.  The weight, texture, and sheen level of wallcoverings applied over this level of finish should be carefully evaluated.  Joints and fasteners must be adequately concealed if the wallcovering material is lightweight, contains limited pattern, has a gloss finish, or any combination of these finishes is present. Unbacked vinyl wallcoverings are not recommended over this level of finish.

Level 5 Locations:  This level of finish is highly recommended where paint is specified or where severe lighting conditions occur. This highest quality finish is the most effective method to provide a uniform surface and minimize the possibility of joint photographing and of fasteners showing through the final decoration.

The entire publication “Recommended Levels of Gypsum Board Finish” GA-214 is available free online, at http://gypsum.org/pdf/GA-214-10e-webversion.pdf .

You’ve probably heard people suggest to job seekers, “Dress for the job you want.”  It’s good advice, but I’m not that into fashion, so I modify that advice to say:  “Work as if you have the job you want.”

I am lucky to actually have the job I want!  But I don’t always get the projects I want.  My clients are great – it’s their clients (the Owners on construction projects) that I sometimes wish were, well, a little more this… a little less that… 

But I keep working as if all the Owners actually were appreciative of my efforts to do my best, and were aware of the ways my work can benefit them. 

One of my goals for my future is to work only on projects with Owners who are aware enough to appreciate my conscientiousness and thoroughness.  For now though, on a lot of my projects, I’m just practicing.  I’m doing my best on all my projects, whether it’s appreciated by the Owners or not.

As we’ve all heard “…perfect practice makes perfect.”  (This is how I remember that great Vince Lombardi quote, because this important fragment is all that I ever heard from Mr. Roberson, my guitar teacher when I was 8.)  The full quote is: “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.” 

I believe that you cannot be prepared for the work you want to be doing unless you always work as hard as your dream job will require you to work.

My work, writing architectural specifications for construction projects, feels a bit like writing letters to subcontractors.  The architect and the general contractor sometimes seem like the couriers who pass these letters along. 

I’m oversimplifying things here; there’s so much other work that goes into the project management of a construction project on the part of the architect and the general contractor.  They are so much more than messengers, and even with specs, they need to be so much more than messengers.  But the specs are something that are best understood by the sub or vendor on the contractor side, and by the spec writer on the design team side.  We’re specialists in our fields.  (Something that highlights this fact is that a bad spec section can look just fine to almost everyone on the project team [owner, architect, general contractor], but a sub and a spec writer know an incomplete or incorrect spec when they look carefully.)

Because the writer of the specs naturally knows the specs better than the architect and general contractor do, sometimes part of my job is to act as translator between architect and general contractor.  That’s fine – I expect to do that.  But once in a while, I act as translator between general contractor and subcontractor.  And that’s a little weird. 

I wouldn’t be writing about this if it had only happened once, or if it had only happened with one contractor.  It’s happened to me with several general contractors.

The architect and the spec writer shouldn’t have to put their heads together to figure out what the general contractor is trying to communicate to the architect.  We shouldn’t have to trace back through an email chain to find out the source of the GC’s question.  We shouldn’t have to go back to the source (the sub’s email to the GC) to be able to figure out that the GC isn’t understanding something about his sub’s question, but he’s passing on the question to the architect, anyway.

General contractors shouldn’t just pass along questions from their subs to the architect – they should try to answer them first.  And architects shouldn’t just pass along questions from their consultants to the owner, they should try to answer them first.  And architects shouldn’t just pass on info from one source to their consultants without verifying it first.

And the main point of all of this is that architects and general contractors need to read the specs, and not just act like the couriers who deliver the specs to the subs.  The specs are not just for the subcontractors!

Sunday morning a few weeks ago, my family ran into some friends of ours, and we were chatting about what we were going to do for the rest of the beautiful day.  I said that I needed to squeeze about 3 weeks worth of work into the rest of the day.  (I was exaggerating, but not by much.)  My friend paused, then responded with a perfectly reasonable response, “How did you get… so far behind?”

That’s truly not how I saw my situation.  My perspective was that the reason I had so much work to do was because I hadn’t received, in a timely manner, the information that I needed to do my work.  I had unanswered questions out there.  Yes, there was some work I could have been doing, but I have a (totally rational) distaste for taking the risk of having to completely redo something.

Our work as design professionals does not follow a linear path.  I know that the work of my accountant friend who asked the question isn’t completely linear either; he also relies on input from others to complete his work.  But the bulk of the work that we do when preparing construction documents for a building is collaborative.  None of us can operate independently of other members of the team, and, remember, the Owner is part of this team.  The work of each of us involved in this process is integral to the work of the whole team.

We start with some basic info.  We begin our work in a somewhat linear manner.  We design or research things, we ask questions about products, building codes, existing conditions, the work of other team members.  Sometimes one question brings not just one answer, but an answer and a whole host of other questions.  We need to get these answered before we can move on.  We get these answered; these questions bring up more questions.  We build on the design work of other team members, after we put all our work together at design documentation milestones.  Sometimes we have to take a step backwards, if someone went a little too far ahead.  We build (or revise) on the input of the Owner.

I have found that, sometimes, Owners provide information without realizing what they’re providing.  Sometimes Owners do not respond to questions from the architect in a timely manner.  Owners sometimes seem to want us to “finish” before they review things.  This is a really bad idea if we are not actually to have free rein in this design process.  Owners need to realize that we proceed with the information they give us, and if they don’t actually want the stuff they’re giving us information on, they shouldn’t give us that information.  I know this sounds ridiculous, and obvious, but it needs to be said.

None of us knows everything that is involved in the work of others.  Owners seem not to understand how much work and time is spent developing a design or a project specification based on specific instructions, and how many parts of a project every single other part profoundly affects.  When we, the design team, are instructed to change things or add things at the last minute, it’s never good.  The reason we have intermediate milestones is for everyone to review the work of others, and for the Owner to make sure that the direction is correct.

Every member of the team should carefully review documents that are issued at every milestone.  If the Owner doesn’t like something, the Owner needs to speak up immediately, instead of waiting until after the next milestone, when things have been further developed.

So Owners, please answer questions from the architect.  Please know what you want before you provide information to the design team.  Please understand what it is that you are asking for.

Owners, you may not realize your very important role on the team.  Design is a “garbage in, garbage out” sort of process.  Sure, I can write a good spec in a vacuum.  But a project specification that’s good in a vacuum isn’t necessarily good for your project.  When you get questions from the architect’s spec writer, answer them thoughtfully.

Owners, if you need to change things after they’ve already been developed, please change the design team’s schedule and fees as well as the scope of the work.  It’s only fair.  It will allow architects, engineers, and specifiers to produce better, more coordinated documents, and this is likely to save you time and money in the long run.