Introduction to the Practice Guide Series
Beginning with the publication of the fi rst Manual of Practice (MOP) in 1967 continuing through the publication of its successor document, the Project Resource Manual (PRM), it has been the intent of CSI that these publications embody accepted standards for the preparation of construction specifi cations and project manuals, and a detailed source of information on quality documentation for the life cycle of a facility.
Th rough these publications, CSI has sought to aid owners, designers, specifi ers, contract administrators, contractors, construction product representatives, and facility managers in the performance of their jobs.
In 2008, CSI began an eff ort to update the knowledge formerly contained in the MOP and PRM to present it anew and ensure its continued relevance. As with the earlier collections of this knowledge, the intent is to provide an authoritative resource on the organization, preparation, use, and interpretation of construction documents, encompassing the entire life cycle of a facility from conception through facility management.
To accomplish this update CSI established the Practice Guides Task Team. One of the task team charges was to organize the presentation of this information into modules to support areas of practice where CSI currently off ers certifi cates and certifi cations, such as Project Delivery addressed by the Construction Documents Technology (CDT) certifi cate; Specifi cations, addressed by the Certifi ed Construction Specifi er (CCS) certifi cation; Contract Administration, addressed by the Certifi ed Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) certifi cation; and Product Representation, addressed by the Certifi ed Construction Product Representative (CCPR) certifi cation, as well as other areas of practice for which education and certifi cation may be developed.
To keep current with changes in the industry, the task team also reviewed other CSI documents and standards, and updated references to them that appear in the Practice Guides. A similar eff ort was made to incorporate changes in contract documents produced by Th e American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Engineers Joint Construction Documents Committee (EJCDC), and to introduce the new standard contract documents developed by the ConsensusDOCS Coalition.
Th e task team also recognized the growing impact of “green” or sustainable practices on the subject matter contained in the Practice Guides. Each Practice Guide now addresses the topic of sustainable practice to some degree and a more detailed examination of the topic is contained in this Practice Guide.
Two other topics that have had an impact on the Practice Guides are: Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD). Th e growing impact of BIM on the practice of specifi cation writing and its potential impact on quality documentation made a discussion of this topic imperative. Likewise, IPD has grown in importance over the past several years and has had an impact on the way practitioners relate to the process of creating and interpreting construction documents.
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