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The International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), in conjunction with the Lighting Industry Resource Council (LIRC), has developed the following Guidelines for Specification Integrity, which suggest actions specifiers can take to build and preserve a specification of high integrity.
These guidelines provide specific information for specifiers on how to write specifications with clarity and precision. The guidelines also provide information about how to communicate with clients, manufacturers and manufacturer's agents concerning their standards of quality for lighting equipment to ensure that recommendations apply to every phase of a project's development from the preliminary design phase through completion of construction.
I. Foundation Elements for Building a Quality Specification
A. Work to develop a lighting equipment specification database.
1. Establish categories for the key luminaires (lighting fixtures) you specify, classifying them according to location, source and function or application (e.g., recessed incandescent downlights, pendant fluorescent uplights, exterior metal halide floodlights, etc.).
2. Develop a standard luminaire typing system to organize your lighting equipment.
3. Develop a master luminaire schedule or database that identifies acceptable products by manufacturer and specification number.
4. Track project pricing information in this database, allowing you to develop a history of unit price information that will be beneficial in evaluating lighting budgets for future projects.
5. Update your databases on a regular basis.
B. Establish clear and defensible standards of quality for the lighting equipment you specify.
1. Determine your interpretation of differing specification project grades.
2. Foster dialogue with fellow design professionals to assist your development of quality standards for lighting equipment.
3. Develop and use a checklist of product performance eveluation criteria including:
Photometric performance
Aesthertics
Construction materials and integrity
Finishes
Energy consumption
Manufacturer's support
Delivery
Long-term availability and service
4. Brief your local manufacturers' agents on your pref erences concerning products and lighting equipment standards.
5. Adopt and maintain a company policy regarding specification integrity. Write a policy statement on lighting specifications to be distributed to your design clients, key project decision-makers and other project team members.
6. Meet with key representatives of your local manufacturers' agencies to discuss your policy and how to work together to maintain the integrity of your lighting specifications.
C. Get to know the lighting products you specify.
1. Encourage manufacturers and their agents...