Stop 7 of 8 · Weekly
Spec compliance and product data
Product data held against the spec line by line, a deviation memo the architect can decide on, and a code question that ends with you opening the code.
Compliance is a table, not an opinion
A submittal review says whether the package is complete. A compliance check says whether the product does what the section requires. They are different jobs, and the second one is where Hany's twenty years of fit-out are worth the salary.
The part that is not worth the salary is reading fourteen pages of manufacturer data against eleven paragraphs of Part 2.
Build a table comparing section [07 13 00] Part 2 against the attached product data sheet. One row per specified requirement: the requirement, the spec paragraph it comes from, what the data sheet says, and a status of met, not met or not stated. Not stated means the data sheet is silent, and I want it kept separate from not met. Do not conclude whether the product is acceptable. List at the end any performance claim in the data sheet that has no matching requirement in the spec.
Three columns are what fits on a phone in the trailer, so ask for the four column version when you are at a desk and the short one when you are not.
The deviation memo
From the table above, write a deviation memo to the architect on the proposed alternate waterproofing membrane. One short paragraph of context, then one numbered item per deviation: the spec paragraph, what the section requires, what the proposed product does or does not state, and the decision we are asking for. Close by asking for a decision on each numbered item by [date]. Neutral throughout. Do not argue for the substitution, do not state a cost, and do not state a schedule impact.
Code questions end at the source
Research mode searches, reads and comes back with an answer and the pages it used. It is quick at finding which section of an adopted code applies. It is not the code.
Use Research mode. Which section of the plumbing code adopted in [city and state] governs shower pan waterproofing in a hotel guest bathroom, and has that section been amended locally. Give me the code edition, the section number, the amendment reference if there is one, and a link to the jurisdiction page for each. Quote the operative sentence. Do not summarise beyond the quote and tell me if you cannot find the local amendment.
Then open the links. Read the section. The memo carries the sentence you read, not the sentence Claude wrote about it.