Specifications

The current project manual by section, with earlier versions preserved.

Overview

The Specifications module maintains the current project manual by section. Each section has a permanent section record — such as 03 30 00 — and one or more uploaded files as its versions.

Everyone on the project uses this page's first half: finding and downloading sections. Users with document-management permission also set up and maintain the manual — that's the second half. Drawings works the same way, and ASIs are how revised sections arrive during construction.

Find and download specifications

The newest version of each section is shown by default; expand a section to see its prior versions. Filter the list by division, section, set, or issuance, then select the sections you need for download. Check the issuance information before relying on a downloaded section.

Video: Find and download specifications (~30 sec)

Filter by division, open a section to see its version history, and download the sections you need.

How the conformed set works

LiveArch does not store the project manual as one book that is reissued whenever a section changes. It stores each section as a section record with its own version history, and the conformed set is what you get when you ask for the current version of every one of them.

Four records — sheets A-101 and A-102 and specification sections 03 30 00 and 09 91 00 — each with its own stack of file versions. Older versions are marked superseded and the newest of each is marked current. Arrows run from each current version down into a single Conformed set band, described as the current version of every record, assembled the moment you download it. — The set is always the current version of every record, so it is never out of date and never needs re-publishing.

Two consequences worth knowing:

The set is current by construction. Uploading a revision to a section record changes what the set contains immediately, with no separate publish step.
Nothing is lost when a section is revised. Superseded versions stay on their section record, marked as superseded, and stay downloadable — so a question about what was issued in March still has an answer in December.

The conformed set spans Specifications and Drawings together. Both modules work the same way, and both feed the same set.

Section records and file records

The most useful thing to understand about this module is that the section record and the file record are related, but they are different objects. 03 30 00 is a section record — the permanent identity of that section on this project. Every PDF file you upload is a version of the section, recorded as a file record.

Three stages of the same section record. First, the section record 03 30 00 is created with an empty dashed slot reading no file uploaded — it shows in the list but has nothing to download. Second, the first PDF is uploaded and becomes the section's first file record, Rev 0, marked current. Third, a revision is uploaded: Rev 0 becomes superseded and the new Rev 1 becomes current — both file records on the same 03 30 00 section record. — A section record created ahead of its files is a placeholder — visible in the list, but not yet a usable document.

Creating section records before the files exist is a normal and useful way to work: it lets the project agree the manual's table of contents up front, and it makes a section nobody has issued yet visible as a gap rather than as an absence nobody notices. A section record with no file records is a placeholder — it appears in the list, and there is nothing to download from it yet.

Warning

When a section is revised, add the new file as a version of the existing section record. Do not create a second section record for the revision. A duplicate section record splits the section's history in two, and the conformed set will carry both as though they were different sections.

Set up the project manual

Setup is for users with document-management permissions, and the order matters: a section record has to be filed under a division, so the divisions exist first, then the section records, then the files.

Divisions first

A division is the top-level grouping a section is filed under. Divisions are defined per project rather than inherited from a global list, so each project describes its own breakdown — in Division Management. Getting them right up front is worth the few minutes: divisions drive how the list filters and groups for everyone on the project for the rest of the job.

A tree with Project Manual at the top branching into four divisions — Division 03 Concrete, Division 07 Thermal and Moisture, Division 09 Finishes, and Division 23 HVAC — each holding its own section records: 03 30 00 and 03 35 00, 07 52 00 and 07 92 00, 09 65 00 and 09 91 00, and 23 05 00. — Divisions are created in Division Management before any section record can reference one.

Follow the division numbering the project manual already uses, so section numbers and division names agree.
Create only the divisions the project actually has. An empty division adds a filter that never narrows anything.
Agree the list with the project team before importing sections in bulk. Renaming a division later is easy; re-filing dozens of sections under a different one is not.

Then the section records

In Specification Management, create each section record with its number, title, and division — verify all three before saving. Upload each file as a version of its section record, and associate the version with a document set or issuance when the project requires it.

Bulk import for a full manual

For a full manual, work in the same order as a single section — section records first, then files — but do each half in one pass. A CSV template creates the section records; the upload screen then matches your files to them.

Bulk setup in three stages. First, a CSV template is filled in with a number, title, and division per row. Second, importing it creates one section record per row, each still marked as having no file. Third, on upload each selected PDF is matched to the section record whose number its filename carries, shown as 03 30 00.pdf matched to 03 30 00 and so on. A warning band advises importing four or five rows first and checking the result, because a wrong division or a mistyped number in a large import has to be corrected record by record. — The import creates the section records — number, title, and division. Files are uploaded in a second pass and matched to their section records by filename.

The upload screen reads the filenames you select and pre-fills the section record each one belongs to, so associating a batch of files is a review step rather than a lookup per file. Name files with the section number and the matching does the work for you. Check the matches before submitting, because a filename that does not carry a recognizable number will not resolve on its own.

Warning

Test the process with four or five sections before importing the full list. Confirm that division names, section numbers, titles, and set assignments appear correctly. Correcting a large, inaccurate import can require significant manual cleanup.

Video: Set up section records and upload files (~30 sec)

Create a single section record, import a batch from the CSV template, then upload files and confirm the section record each one attaches to.

Update the conformed set

During design phases, add a new version to the existing section record and associate it with the appropriate set.
During construction, include revised sections in the applicable ASI when that is the project's required issuance method. Issuing the ASI updates the associated sections in the conformed set while retaining the superseded version in the section history.
A section attached only to an RFI does not automatically update the conformed set. Add it manually or capture it through the project's approved issuance procedure.

Key terms

Conformed set: The maintained collection of current drawings and specifications, incorporating approved or issued revisions while retaining access to prior versions.
Section record: The permanent identity of a specification section, such as 03 30 00, independent of any one uploaded file. Each uploaded file becomes a version of that section record.
File record: One uploaded file — a single version of a section record. The current file record for each section is what the conformed set contains.
Division: A top-level grouping of specification sections (e.g. Division 05 — Metals) used to organize the project manual and filter section records.
Document set: A named grouping of sheet or specification-section records (e.g. a bid set or permit set) used to organize the conformed documents.

Support

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