Standards & Guidance

Guidance written for this job, not a library.

A reference library tells you what a standard says. Avoice tells you what to know, what to consider and what you’ve left out, on this building, this system, this clause. A second brain on the project.

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Ask why, on any clause.

Every clause comes with the reasoning: what the standard asks for, what the project documents already say, and what is still open. No tab hunting, no PDF trawling.

It reads the project first.

Drawings, schedules and consultant reports go in. What comes back is about this building and this system, not the general case.

Nothing goes out half-decided.

Open items are named with the decision behind them, who owns it, and what it affects further down the spec.

Guidance written for this project

Every section comes with guidance drawn from the drawings, schedules and reports already on the job. Not a library to search through, the specific thing you need to know before you write it.

  • See what’s missing before you write the section
  • Every standard and regulation read in project context
  • Sources shown for every note, down to the page

Every line traceable to its source

Each section records what it was written from: the standard and its edition, the product data, the drawing revision. When a standard is superseded or a drawing is reissued, you know exactly which sections it touched.

  • Standards checked current at every issue
  • Product data tied to the section that cites it
  • See which sections a reissued drawing affects

Questions

Questions about guidance

Does it guess when information is missing?

No. Every empty field ends up in one of three states:

From the product. Filled from the manufacturer's published data, with the source and a note to double-check shown on hover.
Recommended. A value based on the Building Regulations, British Standards or trade practice, with the reasoning and other options you could pick.
TBC. It genuinely can't be determined from what you've given it, and the reason is stated.

Riverside Mills/Specification/E30 External wall insulationExample
Rigid insulation boardPr_25_57_06_70/01 · INS-201
Thickness120 mmFrom product · manufacturer datasheet
Thermal conductivity0.022 W/mKFrom product · double-check
Fixing centresRec 400 mmTypical for this board in a wall build-up. Other options: 300 mm, 600 mm.
Reaction to fireTBCThe fire strategy doesn't cover this wall type yet.
Why does the first draft have TBCs in it?

On purpose. A TBC means your drawings and reports don't resolve that item yet. It's better to see it now than to find it on site. Open TBCs collect in a per-project TBC register that you clear before issue.

Read the guide: TBCs in specifications at tender

Where do workmanship clauses come from when there's no installation guide?

From the same places an experienced spec writer draws on: the BS 8000 workmanship series and other codes of practice, the Building Regulations and Approved Documents, and manufacturer installation instructions where they're published.

Where a clause rests on general good practice rather than project information, the clause says so, so you know what to check.

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