SPECIFICATIONS/MATERIAL ESTIMATING/ADVANCED BASE PLANNING

As an Engineering Aid assigned to either a construction battalion or a Public Works Department, you may be required to assist in the preparation of specifications for a construction project. You will, most certainly, use construction specifications in your day-to-day job, especially when surveying or testing materials. This chapter briefly discusses the organization and content of construction specifications. In addition, EAs frequently are involved in estimating material requirements for a project and assisting in the planning of advanced bases. This chapter introduces you to those topics.

Because many aspects of construction cannot be shown graphically, even the best prepared construction drawings are most often not entirely adequate in revealing all the aspects of a construction project; for instance, how can anyone show on a drawing the quality of workmanship required for the installation of doors and windows or who is responsible for supplying the materials, except by extensive hand-lettered notes? The standard procedure then is to supplement construction drawings with detailed written instructions. These written instructions, called specifications (or more commonly specs), define and limit the materials and fabrication according to the intent of the engineer or the designer.

Usually, it is the design engineers responsibility to prepare project specifications. As an EA, you maybe required to help the engineer in doing this. You also will be required to read, interpret, and use specifications in your work performance as a surveyor or soils technician. To help the engineer in writing specs, you need to be familiar with the various types of reference specifications that are used in preparing project specs. These reference specifications include various federal, military, and nongovernmental specifications. When assisting the engineer in preparing specifications or when using specifications, you also need to be familiar with the general format and terminology used in specifications. This section provides that familiarity.

NAVFAC specifications are prepared by the Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFACENG-COM), which sets forth standards for all construction work performed under its jurisdiction. This includes work performed by the Seabees. There are three types of NAVFAC specifications. These types are discussed as follows:

1. NAVFACENGCOM GUIDE SPECIFICA-TIONS (NFGS). NAVFACENGCOM guide specifications are the primary basis for preparing specifications for construction projects. These specifications define and establish minimum criteria for construction, materials, and workmanship and must be used as guidance in the preparation of project specifications. Each of these guide specifications (of which there are more than 300) has been written to encompass a wide variety of different materials, construction methods, and circumstances, and must be tailored to suit the work actually required by the specific project. To better explain this, lets look at figure 5-1, which is a page taken from a NAVFACENGCOM guide specification. In this figure, you can see that there are two paragraphs numbered 3.2.1. This indicates that the spec writer must choose the paragraph that best suits the particular project for which he is writing the specification. The capital letters I and J in the right-hand margin next to those paragraphs refer to footnotes (contained elsewhere in the same guide specification) that the spec writer must follow when selecting the best paragraph. Additionally, you can see that some of the information in figure 5-1 is enclosed in brackets ([ ]). This indicates other choices that the spec writer must make. Guide specifications, also, should be modified and edited to reflect the latest proven technology, materials, and methods.

2. EFD REGIONAL GUIDE SPECIFICA-TIONS.

These specifications are used in the same way as the NAVFACENGCOM guide specifications but are used only in an area that is under the jurisdiction of one of the engineering field divisions (EFDs) of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command. When the spec writer is given a choice between using an EFD regional guide specification or a NAVFACENGCOM guide

Figure 5-1.Sample page from a NAVFACENGCOM guide specification.

specification with the same identification number, the writer must use the one that has the most recent date. This is because there can only be one valid guide specification for a particular area at any one time.

3. STANDARD SPECIFICATIONS. These specifications are written for a small group of specialized structures that must have uniform construction to meet rigid operational requirements. NAVFAC standard specifications contain References to federal, military, other command and bureau, and association specifications. NAVFAC standard specifications are referenced or copied in project specifications. When it is necessary to modify requirements of a standard specification, it must be referenced and exceptions taken.

EXAMPLE: "The magazine shall be Arch, Type I, conforming to Specifications S-M8E, except that all concrete shall be Class F- 1."

The following specifications establish requirements mainly in terms of performance. Referencing these documents in project specifications assures the procurement of economical facility components and services while considerably reducing the verbiage required to state such requirements.

1. FEDERAL AND MILITARY SPECIFICA-TIONS. Federal specifications cover the character-istics of materials and supplies used jointly by the Navy and other government agencies. These specifications do not cover installation or workmanship for a particular project but specify the technical requirements and tests for materials, products, or services. The engineering technical library should contain all of the commonly used federal specifications pertinent to Seabee construction. Military specifications are those specifications that have been developed by the Department of Defense. Like federal specifications, they also cover the characteristics of materials. They are identified by "DOD" or "MIL" preceding the first letter and serial number.

2. TECHNICAL SOCIETY AND TRADE ASSOCIATION SPECIFICATIONS. Technical society specifications for example, those published by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)should be referenced in project specifications when applicable. Tradecontain the requirements among the companies within a given industry.

3. MANUFACTURERS SPECIFICATIONS. 

These specifications contain a manufacturers precise description for the manner and process for making, constructing or compounding, and using any items the manufacturer produces. They should not be referenced or copied verbatim in project specifications but maybe used to aid in preparing project specifications