wednesday - construction specifications...

NORTHERN VIRGINIA CHAPTER CSI

Volume 12 - No. 1 www.novacsi.org February 2002

MARK YOUR CALENDARS ON

WEDNESDAY MARCH 13, 2002

WE CELEBRATE

CCSSII AAWWAARREENNEESSSS MMOONNTTHH

If you only attend one meeting this year, make it March, and bring a friend.

Help the Chapter increase its diversity and promote the exchange of knowledge by

bringing others involved in the construction industry to this meeting to learn more about the products, services, and benefits of CSI

membership. NOVA CHAPTER MEETINGS are held the 2nd Wednesday

of each month at the Washington Dulles Airport Marriott, 45020 Aviation Drive, Dulles, VA

NOVA COMMITTEE MEETINGS are held every month except January and June at 6:00 pm during the social hour

prior to the Dinner Meetings each month at the Dulles Marriott Hotel.

TABLE TOP RESERVATIONS: (301)434-5151

NOTE: Check the Chapter Web Site at www.novacsi.org for details about the February dinner meeting.

PPRREESSIIDDEENNTT''SS MMEESSSSAAGGEE We had a great time at the Charter

Anniversary Ba nquet. I would again like to thank PPG for providing the beverages and for Gloria Buchanan for arranging their sponsorship.

John Van Wagoner was the evening's emcee and did a fantastic job. I would also like to thank John for arranging the tour of the Cathedral and for the use of this magnificent space for the evening.

To remember the occasion, each person was pre-sented an anniversary souvenir. The souvenir was made possible through the courtesy of Tony Patton of Kaneka.

All of the charter members were acknowledged. There are two special charter members that are no longer with us. Everett Spurling, Honorary Member and Fellow who did so much to help the chapter in its early years, and Robert Nordstrom, Fellow, who passed away a few months ago. All of those that have been presidents of the chapter were introduced.

Ford Chinworth, CSI, President of the Metropolitan Washington DC Chapter presented the Chapter with a letter of congratulations from the DC Chapter. Both of the region's Institute Directors, Charlie Stover, CSI and Gloria Buchanan, CSI were present and spoke. We were pleased that Robert Johnson, FCSI, Past President of CSI, was able to attend. He had represented the Insti-tute at our original Chartering. Robert Molseed, FCSI, Past President of CSI, was also present and it was through his efforts during his term as an Institute Direc-tor for the region that our chapter was founded.

I would like to formally and personally thank all of the companies and individuals who have sponsored Chapter events over the years, there are far to many to list individually, and some have assiste d year after year. In addition, I would like to thank all the loyal members who regularly attend our monthly meetings. The chapter exists because of volunteer participation, and I have always thought that everyone who wants to participate can be accommodated.

A memorable time was had by all. Thank you to eve-ryone that attended. William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS Northern Virginia Chapter President

NOVASPEC

New Chapter logo.

Volume 12 - No. 1 February 2002

organizational meeting later that month. The draft bylaws were approved and a slate of officers was selected. The group agreed to hold chapter meetings the first Wednesday of the month at the Dulles Airport Marriott Hotel. Dues were established at $25.00 per member and the unofficial name of the chapter “Northern Virginia” was selected.

The organizational meeting was held September 24, 1991 with 17 members in attendance. At this meeting, the mem-bers voted to form a chapter, elected officers, a pproved by-laws and selected the chapter name. The first regular chapter meeting was held November 6, 1991 at the Dulles Airport Marriott Hotel with Joseph Kasimer, Esq., CSI as speaker. Twenty-five members and prospective members attended.

Then it was Charter Night, January 11, 1992 with 42 charter members attending. Jorgen Graugaard had the pleasure of being the Master of Ceremonies and welcomed about 80 members and guests who had gathered here on this special evening to join in the presentation of the Char-ter to the new “Northern Virginia Chapter, CSI”.

Last January, the Institute had over 17,300 members, and the Middle Atlantic Region, which we belong to, had a total membership of over 2,100. With NOVA, we have 15 chapters in the region; our new chapter is Chapter No. 121 in the Institute and the fifth in Virginia. With a charter of 42 members, it was one of the largest to be chartered in the Region.

At the head table we had Robert Johnson, FCSI, CCS, Immediate Past President of CSI and keynote speaker; William Pegues, CCS, our first NOVA Chapter President; Robert Molseed, FCSI, CCS, Region Director, Mike Boring, Region Director; Bill Brightbill, CDT, Immediate Past Region Director; and John Van Wagoner, who gave the invocation, and Jorgen Graugaard, FCSI, CCS as MC.

We had many distinguished guests. Jorgen was privileged to introduce two FCSI/FAIA “double-fellows” as charter members: Mortimer Marshall, FCSI, FAIA, CCS with 34 years CSI seniority and Everett Spurling, FCSI, FAIA, CCS with 30 years CSI seniority. Other Fellows of the Institute were Bob Nordstrom, FCSI, CCS, with 32 years CSI seniority and Gregg Borchelt, FCSI, CDT, today the Institute Treasurer.

Other guests included Baltimore Chapter President Paul Harbison, CCS, and Bob Berger; Central Virginia Chapter President Ron Keeney and Chapter Director Harvey Sorum; DC Metro Chapter President Donna Robb and ChapterOfficers David Rinn, Dick Hubbard, Warren Neiman and Tom Locraft.

Beth Haggerty did the photography and Jay O’Neill of the Culbertson Company and Ray Murray of Betco Block spon-sored the red and white wine with dinner. The music back-ground was provided by our very own Bob Rosenbaum on the Steinway – or was it Yamaha? (By the way, if you attended the Institute convention on New Orleans in ’89 you now know that according to Mark Russell “Yamaha is

A LOOK BACK TO 1992 Reprinted from a 1992 article by Jorgen Graugaard, FCSI, CCS

Next month our chapter will celebrate its first anniversary. On January 11, 1992, official charter night ceremonies were held at the Dulles Mar-riott Hotel. It was a very special evening held in the best of traditions. Let’s look back to the very beginning - to the birth of our chapter.

The idea of a NOVA chapter was first informally dis-cussed at breakfast on Sunday morning in Erie, Pennsyl-vania in early September 1988 following the annual Region Conference. Present were then Institute Direc-tors Byron Dickson and Dell Ewing, former Director Ron Nattress and Region members Bob Molseed, Andy Gieseking, and Ken Nagie.

At the time, Charlottesville, Virginia was considered a prime target for a new chapter. From time-to-time thereafter, occasional discussion on the possibility of a Nova chapter was held, but nothing was done to begin chapter formation since serious objections were raised by some DC Metropolitan Chapter members and the discussions generally languished.

Efforts of Institute Director Byron Dickson to form a chapter in Charlottesville, Virginia were consummated in the spring of 1990 when an organizational meeting was held. The chapter was chartered in October of that year.

Byron Dickson’s successor, Institute Director, Bob Molseed felt it was time to begin serious investigation of a chapter in Northern Virginia. In May 1991, he sent a letter to approximately 58 members of the DC Metro Chapter who lived or worked in this area but rarely attended meetings of the DC Metro Chapter. The letter informed these members of the discussions that had been ongoing for several years.

By the end of June, 34 members had replied express-ing interest and willingness to support a new chapter. Nearly half of the respondents indicated a willingness to assume some leadership responsibility. This support appeared to be more than adequate and the Institute Directors decided to proceed with efforts to charter a chapter in Northern Virginia.

A letter was sent to those members who had indi-cated a willingness to assume a leadership responsibility and the first meeting was held on August 7, 1991. This leadership core agreed to continue to explore chartering possibilities. Bylaws, house, and nominating committees were established, and they agreed to meet again a month later.

The second meeting was held September 4, 1991. Fourteen members attended. William Pegues was se-lected as acting president. This group decided to hold an


Japanese for OR APPROVED EQUAL”). Following the dinner and the keynote address, the

Region Directors proceeded with the presentation of the Charter, the introduction of the new chapter officers, and distribution of the chapter certificates to all the chapter members.

What a delightful evening! Our first year has come full circle and we will be cele-

brating our first anniversary this month. See you at the party. NS

—Ed. Thanks to Jorgen for his wonderful recap. By coincidence, our tenth year has been completed and the "presidents" in office both have the same names as 10 years ago (Pegues and Bush).

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PPAASSTT PPRREESSIIDDEENNTTSS At the Anniversary Banquet, we recognized the past Presidents of the Northern Virginia Chapter CSI:

1992/1993 William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS 1994 Joseph Wintz III, CSI 1995 Henry Doyle, PE, CSI, CCS, CCCA 1996 Steve Szoke, CSI, CDT 1997 Michael Clancy, CSI, CDT 1998 Gloria Buchanan, CSI 1999 Brian Trimble, CSI, CDT 2000 Jean Carr 2001 Robert Morris, III, PE, CSI, AIA 2002 William C. Pegues, FCSI, CCS

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JJUUDDIICCIIAALL JJOOTTTTIINNGGSS By Joseph H. Kasimer, Esquire, FCSI, Kasimer & Annino, P.C.

Many times the language of an agreement or specifi-cation is less than clear. When it is not possible to ascertain the intent of the agreement from the words as written, it is then necessary to interpret the agreement. A recent California case provides a good example.

A general contractor issued a subcontract for per-formance of structural concrete construction for a cold storage facility in California. Part of the work involved construction of a concrete loading dock, as well as construction of a freezer area in the warehouse, whichincludes large mobile storage racks, which move on rails set into the concrete freezer floor. The subcontract contained he following language:

Subcontractor is to furnish and install all material and equipment related to the work including, but not limited to the following:

Finished uniformed surfaces measured with a 12-footstraight edge should not vary by more than 1/8 inch.

Floor flatness @ freezer will be dictated by rail eleva-tion. The general contractor contended that this language

meant that all concrete surfaces must meet a flatness standard of 1/8-inch per 12 feet, including both the freezer and the loading dock area. The subcontractor contended that the language related only to the freezer area, since the rail system required flatness. The sub-contractor further testified that the flatness criteria would not be applicable to a loading dock, that it was essentially impossible to meet the specification, and that it would not be industry practice to meet a flatness standard for this type of area. The general contractor contended that the “plain meaning” of the subcontract language quoted above meant that all surfaces, includ-ing the loading dock, must meet the 1/8-inch in 12 feet criteria. The general contractor withheld approximately $100,000 in retention because of the failure of the subcontractor to meet the flatness criteria and the subcontractor filed suit.

After reviewing the documents and testimony, the court held that the contract was unclear or “ambiguous”. In other words, it was susceptible to two different meanings. Therefore, the court could accept evidence in order to reach a correct interpretation. The court held that testimony concerning the custom of the trade was relevant, and accepted this evidence in order to inter-pret the agreement. The court then agreed with the subcontractor’s interpretation, holding that the language should be most reasonably interpreted as applicable to the freezer area where a high degree of flatness was necessary due to the rail system, but that it was unrea-sonable to apply it to a loading dock area that had no such requirement.

This case is an interesting example of how the courts will interpret agreements after-the-fact. Obviously, it is better to use clear and specific language which does not require interpretation by the court. NS

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TTEECCHH NNOOTTEESS -- GGOOOOSSEE EEGGGGSS By Sheldon Wolfe, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA, Saint Paul, MN

The last series of articles discussed classification sys-tems, MasterFormat, and the proposed Overall Con-struction Classification System (OCCS). This time we'll focus on just the names and numbers.

One of the guiding principles of the organization brought to construction documents by CSI is consis-tency. Using the Format series standards and the Man-ual of Practice steers one to do things the same way each time, thereby making it easy for the specifier to know where to put things, and easier for the reader to know where to look. This consistency is evident throughout CSI's standards - with a few exceptions.

Continued on Page 6…


The whole group gathered in the auditorium of the Cathedral for the presentations.

Northern Virginia Chapter members in attendance at Anniversary Banquet

10th Anniversary Banquet - January 8, 2002

William Pegues, President

John Van Wagoner, Emcee

Brian Trimble

Robert Johnson

Robert Molseed

Charles Stover


The Washington National Cathedral


Let's start with MasterFormat:

LEVEL 1 CATEGORIES

The Level 1 titles in MasterFormat look OK, but are they really consistent? From Division 1 through Division 16 we see that each category has a similar title - each uses the word Division. The information within each category is apparently similar, as all printed documents are called "Sections".

At the beginning we see five categories of information, by definition at the same level as the sixteen Divisions. Yet, none of these categories has a name that begins with the word Division. Taken together, the Level 4 numbers of the first three categories have the same span as a single Division - 1,000 numbers. The remain-ing two categories are essentially empty. So, from oneview, the first five categories might be seen as the functional equivalent of a single Division, yet each is given Level 1 status. Printed documents within the first three categories are called "Documents", even though there is little distinction between them and their coun-terparts in the sixteen Divisions.

Even though two digits are necessary to number all of the Level 1 categories, no leading zero is used. I use the leading zeros for directories on my computer so they sort correctly.

When assembling a table of contents, many people list all Level 1 titles, then insert the words "not used" if there is no information in that category. I omit the unused titles, and I don't recall that anyone has ever called to ask "Where is Division 10?"

MASTERFORMAT SECTIONS

Leaving the first five MasterFormat categories alone -they're too weird to talk about - let's look at titles in the sixteen Divisions. Titles appear as Section 01100, Section 02100, Section 10100, Section 11100, and so on. This series typically uses five digits. Leading zeros are always used for section numbers. This works well on the com-puter, as the sections then automatically sort in the right order.

I have never seen a table of contents that listed all umpteen hundred section titles, indicating unused sec-tions by the words "not used" - and I hope that I never do!

Perhaps the logic used for section titles could also be used for Level 1 - use leading zeros, and simply omit unused titles. Next month we'll look at SectionFormat. NS

—© 2001 Sheldon Wolfe, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA - o O o -

AASSTTMM:: NNEEWW NNAAMMEE AANNDD NNEEWW LLOOGGOO By Jim Hojnacki, CCS, ASTM

ASTM has officially changed its name to ASTM INTER- NATIONAL Standards Worldwide, beginning January, 2002. The change is relatively insignificant here in the United States, but is being received by other countries as an important step in solidifying worldwide sta ndards. The familiar circular ASTM logo remains in the same distinc-tive font, but now includes a new half-circle orbit path around the middle (indicating a globe) and the words “International Standards Worldwide” beneath it in two separate lines. The word “International” is a slightly larger bold font (all caps) with a horizontal line above and beneath, and the words “Standards Worldwide” on the bottom in a slightly smaller font (caps and lower case).

Along with the new name change, the time it normally takes to review and vote on standards has been signifi-cantly shortened. The process is now done electronically over the Internet and has been in place for nearly a full year and is used by over 25,000 voting members in over 100 countries worldwide. The new balloting system allows these voting members 24/7 access in their specific areas of expertise and provides ASTM with quicker ballot-ing time frames and gets the new standards in print and available for use much faster. A unique electronic filter-ing device permits ASTM to continually monitor the voting process, screen out those individuals not eligible to vote, and remind the late voters that ballots are due. NS

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FFOOCCUUSS OONN EEDDUUCCAATTIIOONN By Salvatore B. Verrastro, CCS, CCCA, CSI, AIA, NCARB

Sal Verrastro is running for the Middle Atlantic Region position of Institute Director, Professional.

"It has been my pleasure to serve this Region and the Institute in various degrees over the past 10 years. My platform is based on Education. Education has been, and will continue to be, the root of the Institute’s success. Let us focus our efforts on new educational programs that are tailored to each of the diverse groups within our membership. All members, and potential new members, have educational interests or needs that the Institute must address.

"I do not take this special position for granted. I need and ask for your support not only in the upcoming elec-tion, but if elected, for the next 36 months as your direc-tor. I will be your director, representing your needs, positions, and interests." NS


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