While several documents are used to capture events occurring during construction, it is more important to get things right during the planning or preconstruction phase. Seen sequentially, the first four documents in the list above comprise the preconstruction stage documents which need to be understood and developed with keen attention.

Construction Drawings: Drawings are the graphical representation of the work and the basis of construction. Customer requirements may be expressed in non-technical terms and the architects and other design specialists translate these requirements into engineering language. Sometimes, notes shown on the drawings contain statements that may conflict with that stated in the Bill of Quantities (BOQ) or Technical Specifications and this can result in quality problems or claims or both.

Technical Specifications: A specification refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard. The word specification is broadly defined as “to state explicitly or in detail” or “to be specific”.

A specification is often invariably a part of the contract or procurement document, or an otherwise agreed upon set of requirements.

Specifications may be provided by government agencies, standards organizations (BIS, ACI, ASTM, ISO, ASHRAE,NBC etc.), trade associations, corporations, and others. However, it is a common practice for every buyer/owner to have their own standard technical specifications, picking out from various codes of practices / standards. In such cases, drafting of technical specifications should be assigned to technical experts in each domain (structural, MEP, roads etc.)

Sometimes the term specification is used in connection with a data sheet, which may be confusing. A data sheet describes the technical characteristics of an item or product, often published by a manufacturer to help people choose or use the products. A data sheet is not a technical specification in the sense of informing how to produce. If the intention is to make the data sheet of a particular product as the desired specifications, this should be specifically stated in the technical specification document.

Bill of Quantities: A bill of Quantities is a document that states the quantities of different items of work required to be executed. BOQ is essentially a commercial document which is often mistaken for a technical document. Quantities in the BOQ are derived from the construction drawings and the rates are derived from an agreement between the client and the contractor. A common anomaly that we come across is the structuring and language of the BOQ. Instead of describing the item of work in briefest possible terms, the BOQ is used to describe technical specifications and commercial terms of contract. BOQs are typically generated by a Cost Consultant / Quantity Surveyor who is not a technical expert.

A situation is thus created in which there can be conflict between drawings, BOQ, technical specifications and commercial conditions of contract. This must be avoided at all costs. If the technical specifications are standardised and numbered, the specification number can be referred in the BOQ to link the two eliminate any possibility of confusion and conflict.

General Conditions of Contracts / Special Conditions of Contracts: These words stand for General and Special conditions of contract and are core of any construction contract agreement. These describe the commercial terms and conditions governing the buyer-seller relationship. In our experience, very little conflict ahs been noticed between GCC/SCC and the other documents referred above.

The table below summarises what these documents should and should not contain, and who is supposed to develop each of these.

With these documents under control, we are in a good shape to move into the construction phase. A different set of documents govern how we ensure Quality Control for our development. These will be the subject of the second part of this article.