Specifications

Question: Which specification?

NATSPEC: would be useful for major projects or for government clients.
SPECPACK: is good for medium size projects such as large houses and small commercial.
SPEEDSPEC: for small projects, small houses or less complex larger houses.
ABIS: It is easy to read.

The top three rely on referencing standards.
Detailed schedules list in a simple format any information specific to the job, and help significantly in pricing.

HEJ's comment:

I would use NATSPEC for larger jobs and any where I would be involved in contract adminstration. I usually use SPEEDSPEC as most residential clients, to date, have chosen to build it themselves, and SPEEDSPEC is the simplest, shortest and the easiset to modify to remove the architect. I supect most clients who do it themselves do not use the specification, with over ten jobs, I have only been asked once by a client to supply a section for a tradesperson, and that request came from the tradesperson. SPEEDSPEC did not enlighten them much.

SPEEDSPEC comes on a disk, is updated and well maintained and is inexpensive.

I modify it, shortening further the sections and remove Standards that are not relevant. I remove the warranty section and many of the schedules, preferring to use my own.

The schedules are very useful as a checklist.