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AEC Technology Glossary

Construction & Field

What is Specification (Specs)?

Specifications are the written companion to the drawings: they define the quality, standards, products, and execution requirements for every part of the work, organized by trade divisions (MasterFormat in North America). Drawings say where; specs say what and how well.

In practice

Specs drive submittals, substitutions, and disputes. AI tools now check specs against drawings for contradictions and extract requirements automatically, errors between the two documents are a classic source of change orders.

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