THE WINNER'S CIRCLE

Indianapolis Chapter CSI Newsletter

September 2015

"Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication."

Deep Thoughts

- Leonardo da Vinci

Please let us know if you have any ideas for future newsletters.

Your Humble Narrator,

Mike Halstead
Indianapolis CSI Newsletter Co-Editor

Mild Mannered Reporter,

Ryan Muzzillo
Indianapolis CSI Newsletter Co-Editor

The Insider

The CSI Indy Trade Show at the JW Marriott on September 10th was a huge success! Thanks again to the committee, and Brian Detty, for all their hard work. We need to challenge our team to make improvements next year, and every year, to grow this event and make it the construction industry event of the year. A special thanks to all of our exhibitors - their financial contributions make our Chapter successful - their funds pay for the programs, education seminars, the holiday party, the awards banquet and all of the events that make Indy the best CSI chapter in the world.

While at the trade show I ran into an old friend - Jack Spohn - who came up from Florida just to make sure his son Eric is really working. Jack may not remember this story but many moons ago I was an architecture student at Ball U and needed to build a physical cross section of a typical building detail for one of my classes. At the time I was working at nights for a local architecture firm and Jack brought in a skylight sample that was perfect. He drove to Muncie from Indy and let me borrow the skylight sample for my class - it was the easiest A that I ever got! The lesson here, Grasshopper, is to trust your product reps and they will help you in return in ways you can't even fathom. Thanks again Jack!

I would also like to thank our sponsors - we have been able to solicit 7 Platinum Sponsors and one Silver Sponsor. Our Platinum Sponsors are Pella, Allegion, Division 7, Seward Associates, IKO Manning, Carlisle and Walker Associates. Our Silver Sponsor is Halstead Architects. Thanks again to our sponsors! We are always looking for more sponsorships - so if you are an architect, engineer, contractor or product representative consider sponsoring the Indy Chapter of CSI - or face the wrath of Ken Schmidt.

Don't forget our CSI Indy family Night at the Fountain Theater building for Duckpin Bowling on Friday, October 23. We need team sponsors and you all need to step up your costumes this year. The Dude may not make a return trip - but team Halstead will beat Joel Young's team this year for the best team costume! Remember - winners are on team Halstead, losers are on team Young.

David Fryman got married last month - I don't remember getting an invite.

If natural selection is real then I humbly submit that the Colts must surely evolve and improve over the course of the season or die off because their first game was primitive at best. Oh well - bad football is better than no football. GO COLTS!

- Your Humble Narrator

Upcoming Events

Programs Committee

Indianapolis Chapter CSI October Meeting: Continuous Insulation

Thursday October 15, 2015 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM EDT

Willows on Westfield

Indianapolis Chapter CSI November Meeting: Whitestown City Planning

Thursday November 19, 2015 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM EST

Willows on Westfield

2015 Standing Reservation List

Thursday December 31, 2015 at 1:00 PM EST

Willows on Westfield

Louisville Chapter CSI
Churchill Downs - CSI Day at the Races

November 14, 2015

4th Floor Millionaires Row

Gates open at 11:30AM

1st Race at 12:45PM

Tickets are $40.00 per person

Includes Program, Lunch Buffet (11:30-3PM), and FREE CD guided tours.

Raffle Prizes.

Table CDT Trivia Pursuit! Each person at the winning table receives a gift.

CSI GLR Race Recognition.

View from the Tower
Joel H. Young, Assoc. AIA, CSI, CDT, LEED Green Assoc.

At last month's meeting, anyone who stuck around long enough could see me in the parking lot with my ole '92 H

onda - and needless to say I was having a bit of car trouble. A tow-truck from AAA came to the rescue, I eventually got home safely, and I ended up cutting my losses and bought a new car soon after. At this point, one might ask, "How does this relate to CSI?" Well - I'm pretty sure that there was not a single CSI comrade that didn't somehow offer assistance. Just about everyone I spoke with was willing to go out of their way to help in any way they could. CSI is truly a family, and I am grateful to be a part of it.

Speaking of CSI comrades pitching in... the CSI Indianapolis 41st Annual Trade Show was a huge success, entirely thanks to the Trade Show Committee and all others who helped in a variety of ways. I am proud of what we accomplished. Many thanks are due to the exhibitors and to the volunteers who made this happen. The Trade Show Committee wants to keep the good momentum going and get started right away for next year... so a debrief and pre-planning meeting is scheduled for Friday 9/25 noon at Schmidt. Please feel free to join us if you would like, and contact Brian Detty for any further information or feedback.

Quick reminder on CONSTRUCT: Our National Convention is in St. Louis from September 30th - October 3rd. David Young is putting together a list of those attending, so please send him your hotel and contact info for "the list" if you are going. ALSO, for anyone actually reading this: we are in the market for a Baby-Sitter for one of our evenings in St. Louis (we got tickets for the CSI dinner at the Museum, then realized that kids are not allowed...). So we may be out the price of the tickets... unless there happens to be someone out there who has nothing better to do?? Who can resist baby Collin, anyway? Haha!

About the photo: I've come to the conclusion that nothing will ever be as entertaining as pictures of my baby boy. So here he is... and I couldn't choose between them so I included two. One photo shows Collin in his usual good spirits with a smirk on his face. The other shows him standing (yes, STANDING!) after crawling past his sea of toys. The only time he sits still is when he sleeps. He never stops moving and playing, and he has thus earned himself t

ame, "Monkey". Good fun!he nickn

For a gift card prize, this month I will continue to promote the 50/50 raffle by having a second pull from the hat. Maybe I'll even remember to bring the gift cards inside for t

he meeting this time. As it may be awhile before I can join the C-Note club (my money goes to daycare, diapers, formula, and now car payments...), the goal of this is to further encourage people to buy tickets and support the Education Foundation.

Please feel free to contact me at any time. I welcome any suggestions, questions, concerns, or constructive criticism regarding Chapter business. You can reach me at 317.879.6052, and by email at joelyoung3@gmail.com (for normal correspondence), or joel@delvdesign.com (for more urgent matters).

CSI Indianapolis Chapter . . . UNITING, CONNECTING, BUILDING . . .

YouTube Channel

Visual Education

The Indianapolis Chapter CSI has entered into a new phase of the digital communication era, and now has a dedicated YouTube Channel for the benefit of our membership.

Certification Quiz

Jack Morgan - Quizmaster

1. If the Construction Budget of a 50,000 square foot Project is $5,000,000 based on $100 per square foot, it is an example of which method of preparing the budget?

a. Unit price

b. Cost per measured unit

c. Systems

d. Component cost

2. It is not uncommon for a Public Owner to dictate the design and construction process for

the different delivery methods, which of the following are examples of this?

a. Which financial institutions will provide bonding for the Contractor financing

b. AHJ submittal requirements

c. How the A/E's Construction Administration and the Contractor's Project Management will be conducted

d. How safety will be controlled on the Project site

3. True or False: The Facility Manager should not be involved in project closeout because the Facility Manager is not a party to the Construction Contract.

a. True

b. False

4. The Contractor's Superintendent:

a. Cannot be changed without Owner's consent

b. Communication is as binding as if given by the Contractor

c. All of the above

d. None of the above

5. Which of the following is not a Mobilization and Start-up cost?

a. Transportation

b. Installation of temporary facilities

c. Protection between stages of work

d. Royalties, licenses, and fees

Answers located at the end of this newsletter....

Table Tops

Kent Hughes

Indianapolis Chapter CSI

The Indianapolis Chapter of CSI is accepting reservations for Table Tops for upcoming Chapter meetings. The list of programs for upcoming Chapter meetings is published in this newsletter, the web site, or contact Program chairman Jeremy Hoffman - jhoffman@crewtech.com , if you would like to target a particular meeting, be sure to make your reservation early. We do have a limit of four spaces available for Table Tops in a standard meeting room and 10 if we have a double room.

Table Tops are an opportunity to promote your company, products, or services to all attendees of our regular chapter meeting during the social hour. There is a maximum of 20 minutes for Table Top presentation at a regular Chapter meeting. You have the floor for maximum of five minutes after dinner before the speaker to communicate to the entire group if there are four presenters. If there is a greater demand, the 20 minutes will be divided by the number of presenters and rounded down to the nearest 30 seconds.

The Table Top presentations are FREE, one time, to new members, and cost current Indianapolis Chapter members only $75. Non-members get the same opportunity for $125. A 30 by 60 table with a cover and skit will be included. All proceeds go to support the Chapter. Payment is due at the time of setup.

Another opportunity for a Table Top is during an Education Seminar. The cost is if you combine it with the Chapter meeting and Education Seminar the cost would be $100 for current members and $150 for non-members.

If you would like to schedule a Table Top for a future meeting or seminar, contact:

Kent A. Hughes RA CDT - American Structurepoint

khughes@structurepoint.com - 317.690.5820

Be sure to put 'Table Top Request in the subject line

Chapter Photos
Capturing Memories

Who's kissing who?

notebook

Board of Directors' Minutes

Online Archive

Minutes of the Indianapolis Chapter CSI Board of Directors can be read here. Please contact the president with any comments or questions.

Tell me again, part 1?
Sheldon Wolfe, RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CSC

I'm sure you've heard the Army way of presenting information: Tell them what you're going to tell them; tell them; tell them what you told them.

While that may be a practical way of doing some things, it has no place in construction documents. For those, we have a different rule: Say it once in the right place. I think it's safe to say that specifiers believe this rule, though convincing those who create the drawings is difficult; the result often is that the specifications may state things but once, while it's common for drawings to repeat things many times, and it's also common for drawing notes to repeat what is stated in the specifications.

So what's the big deal? Why not repeat things? I believe the intent is good, and that everyone working on drawings or specifications simply wants to make sure the contractor knows what is needed. That's the theory, but what really happens? In the next couple of articles, we're going to look at unintentional redundancies.

Let's start with specifications; it's quite common for a specification section to say the same thing twice. Here's an example I have used when teaching specification writing classes. It's from a specification I found online, but the same problems are found in manufacturers' specifications and in commercial guide specifications.

2.02 Materials

A. Flat roof board insulation: Extruded polystyrene board to ASTM C578, Type IV, rigid, closed cell type.

1. Thermal resistance (ASTM C518): R-5 per 1 inch of thickness.
2. Board size: 24" x 96".
3. Board thickness: As indicated on the Drawings.
4. Compressive strength (ASTM D1621): Minimum 25 psi.
5. Water absorption: 0.7% by volume maximum.
6. Edges: Square.
7. Water vapor permeance (ASTM E96): Maximum 1.1 perms.

That looks pretty good, right? Not really. Here's the problem: Much of the information in the numbered paragraphs is already required by ASTM C578, and is, therefore, redundant.

2.02A. ASTM C578 - Standard Specification for Rigid, Cellular Polystyrene Thermal Insulation, is, as the title states, for rigid polystyrene insulation. The standard states that the insulation shall "have essentially closed cells." The standard also states the following requirements for Type IV insulation:

R value: 5 per inch.
Compressive strength: Minimum 25 psi.
Water vapor permeance: Maximum 1.1 perms.

The stated water absorption is a bit of a mystery; ASTM C578 allows only 0.3 percent, while the specification allows 0.7 percent. I can't tell if this is a typo, or if it's measured by the same standard.

If we remove the redundancies, along with 2.02A.3 - a needless statement - we're left with this:

A. Flat roof board insulation: ASTM C578, Type IV.

1. Board size: 24" x 96".
2. Edges: Square.

And that could be further reduced to a single statement.

The usual objection I get is, "So what? What's a few extra words? They're correct, aren't they?"

They are, but why are the requirement restated? Doing so adds nothing; more important, one could argue that because only those performance criteria are stated, the specifier doesn't care about the other things required by ASTM C578, such as density, flexural strength, dimensional stability, oxygen index, the test temperature for the R value test, or acceptable defects. Part of the problem is that specifiers often state requirements that don't matter, simply because they're in a manufacturer's specification.

The usual counter is, "Of course we want all that, too. The contractor has to provide it because it's part of the standard." If that's the argument, then why list any of the properties required by the standard?

Another argument is that specifying those properties makes it easier to review submittals. I suppose that's true, but again I ask, what about the other properties?

Another problem with restating parts of the reference standard is that doing so introduces another possibility for conflict. In this case, it's quite possible that the specified water absorption is a typo. Another possible problem arises when a person unfamiliar with the standard changes the Type, say, from Type IV to Type V, and doesn't change the compressive strength.

Virtually any reference standard contains a multitude of requirement, some stated, some incorporated by reference. Their value lies in the fact that requiring compliance with them automatically makes the entire standard part of the contract documents. Selectively restating selected parts of those standards is not only unnecessary, but it suggests that the few things cited are the only ones that are important.

Another redundancy in specification sections is created when a manufacturer's instructions are included in the section. A simple "Comply with manufacturer's instructions" makes those instructions part of the contract documents. It also avoids problems created by incorrect copying, and by changes in the manufacturer's instructions.

Further complicating the issue is the fact that different manufacturers may well have different instructions. If a specification section is based on Really Great Coatings Super Stuff, which is applied at 30 mils, but you get Coatings-R-Us, which goes on at 60 mils, the specification is simply wrong. You could address the problem by specifying requirement for one product, followed by "Or other as required by manufacturer" but why not take it a step further, and simply require compliance with the manufacturer's instructions?

Of course, your personal experience may have been that you want something other than what the manufacturer requires. If that's the case, you may be justified in changing the manufacturer's instructions. Be aware, though, that if something goes awry, the contractor may well blame the problem on you.

Next time, we'll look at how specifications frequently repeat requirements stated in Division 00 and in Division 01.

� 2015, Sheldon Wolfe, RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CSC

Agree? Disagree? Leave your comments at http://swconstructivethoughts.blogspot.com/

Vent

An editorial section for members to "let it out" about the Construction Industry, the Chapter, CSI National, etc. Members can email the Co-Editors anonymously with comments for publish by clicking on the image to the right.