NADCA Closes Out 2017 with Release of Reformatted General Specification

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J.—January 10, 2018 –NADCA, the HVAC Inspection, Cleaning, and Restoration Association, has recently released a reformatted general construction specification document in an effort to better serve architects, engineers and contractors specifying air duct cleaning projects and to increase the opportunity for NADCA member companies to generate more business.

The NADCA General Specification in a three-part format developed and endorsed by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), is a template document that can be modified to accurately reflect project requirements and account for the unique system variations within an individual building and cleaning project.

A document adhering to the CSI format clearly outlines expectations for a job in three sections:

  • General project information
  • Products to be used
  • Execution

“The purpose of the reformat is to truly create a plug and play specification document—making it easy to use by mechanical engineers, architects, contractors, and others,” said Richard Lantz, ASCS, CVI, president of NADCA. “A CSI-certified professional specifications writer was hired to work on the document and we are extremely pleased with the outcome.”

NADCA hired David Stutzman, CCS, CSI, AIA, president of specifications consulting and quality assurance firm, Conspectus Inc., and his colleague Steve Preis, PE, CCS, CxA, a mechanical engineer and independent specifier.

“Specifications are contract documents, so they must be clear, concise, accurate and written in a consistent way so that the specification looks, reads and interacts with all the other specs on a job,” said Preis. “A typical job might have 150 or 200 specs, so they all have to go together.”

Preis’s draft of the General Specification went to Stutzman, who ran the document through specially built software to catch style deviations that could be problematic. This is a quality-control measure that helps ensure the document meets CSI standards. “Something we think is minor, like punctuation, can completely alter the meaning of something,” said Stutzman. Because CSI’s standard aims for clarity and standardization, adhering to the style is critical.”

The newly formatted general specification document is available for download at generalspec.nadca.com.

About NADCA:
The HVAC Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Association, otherwise known as the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) was formed in 1989 as a non-profit association of companies engaged in the cleaning of HVAC systems. NADCA’s mission is to represent qualified companies engaged in the inspection, cleaning and restoration of HVAC systems, promote source removal as the only acceptable method of cleaning, establish industry standards for the association, and assist NADCA members in providing high-quality service to their customers. With approximately 1,200 members, NADCA is made up of a diverse group of HVAC industry professionals, including air systems cleaning specialists, mold remediators, and HVAC inspectors. To learn more about NADCA, visit www.nadca.com.

 

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