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Updated: 3/6/10

Maine-ly Specs

The Newsletter of the Maine Chapter

Volume 41 No 6                                                 March  2010

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EMPLOYMENT WANTED

This section provides an opportunity for any Maine Chapter Member to post a brief informational statement if the member is looking for employment.  This is a free service provided by the Maine Chapter to its Members -

Valerie Paquin-Gould, CSI-S, CDT, LEED AP BD+C
designvpg@gmail.com
Ph: 207-541-9022
Cell: 617-620-9143
 
Valerie is currently a student at USM in Construction Management. She has over eight years experience including work at Hannaford Brothers in Store Planning and the A/E firm SMMA. Her experience includes specifications and contract documents creation, marketing, AutoCad, SketchUp and CS4. She is currently looking for work in Southern Maine. For full resume please send an email to designvpg@gmail.com

 

Maine Concrete Technicians Certification

Are your interested in taking the exam to become certified to perform Field or Plant Concrete Testing in Maine? If so "Click Here" to learn when and where the Exams will be given and to download an exam application form.

February Board Meeting

 Maine CSI February 2, 2010 Board Meeting Minutes (Rev 1.)

1. President Dave Early opened the meeting at 4 PM, with Dick Eustis and Bill Charland Present. They were quickly joined by Doug Rice, Mark Stillman, Denis Lemieux, Jeff Larimer, and quorum was declared.

2. Secretary’s Report. The minutes from October 13, and November 3rd were corrected showing that Jeff Larimer attended, and were approved.

3. Treasurers Report. The Treasurer reported that we were solvent.

4. No Committee Reports were made due to time constraints.

5. Future Meeting Plans
 
    a. March - Bill Charland distributed all the information regarding the March Meeting at Cianbro in Brewer.

    b. April - Denis Lemieux will look into our having a panel discussion on MCTB. If that does not come together easily, a presentation on the Blue Book will be coordinated by Dick Eustis. Denis to advice.

    c. May Seminar – Denis Lemieux to coordinate

    d. June-Awards Banquet. Bill Charland will reserve a site for Tuesday, June 1st.

6. Member Profiles – It was duly noted that Denis Lemieux has completed his member profile. Doug Rice was volunteered to complete his member profile for March.

7. Membership Campaign – While we missed Steve Dunn, it was noted that the Maine Chapter leads the NE Region in membership growth.

8. Maine Chapter Web Site:

    a. There was a monition, seconded, and approved to have a single rate, full page ad for the web sites at a cost of $ 300.

    b. There was a monition, seconded, and approved to have a business card ad on the Web Site at a cost of $75.

    c. A no fee, job wanted section for chapter members was approved for the web site with a limit of 50 words

        i. All of the above were unanimously approved.

9. Jeff provided those present with an update on the CEN.

10. Dave Early recognized all those who were so instrumental in getting the Outstanding Chapter Nomination Completed.

11. Chapter Nomination Committee

    a. Dick Eustis reminded all present our Nomination Committee as noted in the Committee Report section of the agenda, consisted of Ken Brann, Denis Lemieux, & Keith Lowell. Denis noted how busy Keith has been and reported that the Nominating Committee would be meeting the very next day. We have 2 VP positions, a Secretary's position and 3 Director positions to fill (Linda, Mark, & Lori)

    b. The Nominating Committee also completed plans to ask for nominations from the floor during the upcoming meeting.

12. PayPal – Bill Charland, Denis Lemieux, and Dave Early will work on setting up a PayPal account for MeCSI, similar to what NHCSI has.

13. Construction 2010; one dollar & two dollar “incentive program”. The sign-up window may have passed this program. It was noted that with only 2 or 3 attendees our chapter would not realize any great financial benefit.

14. Awards – Everyone was encouraged to think of nominees both chapter members and non-chapter members for region and chapter awards.

Respectfully Submitted: Dave Early

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Member Profile - Denis Lemieux, CSI, CDT, AIA, LEED AP

Born and raised in the Lewiston-Auburn area, I attended St. Croix Elementary School and at that time my text books were written in French. I learned to speak English by watching television. In the sixth grade the nun’s required that I write a report on what I wanted to be when I grew up. As part of this assignment I was required to interview someone in that profession. I did not know what I wanted to be, but I did respect a neighbor who was a craftsman and I decided to interview him. His name was Oscar Desjardin. During my interview he said “You don’t want to be a carpenter, you should become an architect.” He took out a set of drawings from Alonzo J. Harriman, a project he was currently working on, and said “This is what I think you should become, an architect.” He gave me a compass set and dividers, tools that to this day I still use. He made arrangement for me to meet with Mr. Harriman, and I can still remember my personal interview. It was on a Saturday morning, I had to take the bus and a transfer ticket to Auburn. With my broken French-English dialect I went through the interview and was given a tour of the office, met with some unique individuals, and was given some information from the AIA. The year was 1960, and from that moment I knew that I wanted to be an architect.

Being the oldest of seven children, my parents did not have the money to send me to college, but my uncle Don was a professor at Louisiana Tech University and he offered me the opportunity to stay with him and I was able to attend the university as an in state student. This made it possible for me to pay my way. The son of a shoe shop worker was on his way to become an architect. From 1967 to 1973 I worked part time (60 hours a week) and went to school full time. In 1969, Carlene and I got married and in 1970 Danielle was born. We graduated in 1973 and went back to Maine. My first job was with Pittsfield Industries as a purchasing agent. A year later, Nicole was born and my second job was with Wright Pierce Whitmore as a draftsman. Mr. Whitmore was currently president of the Maine Chapter CSI and a major influence in my introduction to the Institute. In 1977, I became a staff designer and specification writer for Aliberti, Larochell & Hodson Engineering/Construction Management. Having the opportunity to work with Dick Sullivan at Wright Pierce and having Dennis Pelletier’s influence in joining CSI, I became a member in 1977. Richard Sullivan took me under his wing and to my first CSI Leadership seminar in Albany, NY, a trip that I will never forget. I became aware that this Institute was definitely the most influential organization in the construction industry. As a member I have served as an officer and/or a chair for XX years and eventually became President of the Maine Chapter. I also got involve with the Region and was honored with the Region Distinguished Award.

In 1983, I was given the opportunity to work at Harriman Associates as an assistant to Mel Cole in specifications and as the senior estimator. For those of you that know Mel, you know how much you can learn from his expertise. This was probably the most educational position I have ever had. In 1988, I decided to join force with John Herrick and Ron Beauchesne and we established HBL Corporation; Architects, Engineers and Construction Management. During my tenure as President of HBL, I served as President of the Maine Chapter CSI from 1985 to 1987. John Herrick died in 1990 and Ron wanted to peruse another profession. In 1991, I was given the opportunity to return to Harriman Associates as a Senior Architect. This was a position that I held until 2005, at which time I opened DLL Associates, as a sole proprietor. In 2005, I was given the opportunity to be an adjunct professor to teach first year students how to draw manually and to teach first year architectural design. This has proven to be one of the most inspirational experiences. As an instructor, I am learning as much if not more than the students. Students are constantly challenging me, and I find myself reading and researching in order to be able to answer their questions.

My membership in CSI has proven to be a major milestone in my career. It has given me a platform to network with the majority of the construction industry. I have had the opportunity to serve on a chapter and region level, and recently I have been challenged to consider serving on an institute level. I will take this opportunity to ask you to support me and to consider voting for me as your next Institute Director. In a few years I will have to update this profile and I am in hopes that I will be able to mention my having the honor and privilege of serving you as your director.

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Alternate Bids are for Sissies

By: Joe Ostwald, CSI, Director of the Planning, Design & Construction Division of the State's Bureau of General Services

I have never had the pleasure of pulling together a bid for a construction project. So I can only imagine the joy a contractor, subcontractor or supplier must have in seeing the blanks on the bid forms for Alternate Bids 1 through 21e. It must be fun figuring the right dollar amount for each item that you feel may be the determining factor in winning the contract. The bidder wonders: Should I write $245 or $250 on Alternate number 12g for the fifty-three euonymus shrubs on this 23 million dollar High School project? How should I bid on the kitchen equipment, knowing they can't operate the building without accepting the alternate?

Wait a minute. If this is a trend in bidding documents, are we witnessing a positive trend in competitive bidding of state projects? I don't think so.

Planning, Design & Construction Division (PDCD) works in an advisory capacity to state agencies and public schools on public improvement projects. By statute1 we approve Architect/Engineer procurement and plans for public improvements. So you can see that PDCD has some say in how the bid documents are developed, but we sometimes have things working against our preferences. Even though the documents on which a contractor bids should be clear, unambiguous and appropriate to the project, we have seen a number of complicated bid forms. Some of the problem is in the Alternate Bid items. Sometimes there are late "strategies" implemented just before (or during!) the bid period.
One way that PDCD assists our clients is by advising them on a preferred approach for creating Alternate Bids. We offer these guiding principles:

* Scope. An alternate should include only a scope of work that is not necessary for the completion of the project. For example, the heating system should not be an alternate. The Architect should design the Base Bid to include all of the functions of a complete project. Necessity should not compel the Owner to accept alternates in order to create a complete, functioning facility.

* Quantity. The alternates should be few in number, depending on the project, perhaps no more than seven alternates for a large project. The alternates should not create an undue burden on the bidders to engage in multiple estimating calculations in addition to those required for the Base Bid. Some alternates are minimally effective as competitively bid items given that some work can be incorporated in a project by Change Order after the contract is awarded.

* Cost. The dollar value an alternate should not be small and insignificant relative to the Base Bid. The estimated construction cost of the alternates should not exceed the available bid contingency.

* Complexity. To the extent possible, alternates should involve only one, or a select few trades. Where alternates are proposed in addition to work in the Base Bid, the work of the alternate should be uncomplicated in terms of coordination relative to Base Bid work and potential Alternate Bid work. Where alternates are proposed in lieu of an item in the Base Bid, the bid documents should also be very clear as to the scope that is replaced as well as the scope included in the alternate.

* Selection. The Owner shall not purposely create an undue advantage for one particular bidder regarding the award of a contract due to alternates being chosen or not chosen. Selections of alternates are made relative to available funding and the value of the individual Alternate Bid.

* Priority. Alternates more highly desired than others, are generally placed in order before those less desired. However, the order of alternates on a bid form does not obligate the Owner to select one alternate before another. Each alternate is judged independently by the Owner.

Some of the benefits of careful consideration of alternates are a smooth bidding period, bid well, and a smooth bid evaluation period. After all, don't we want to award this project without undue stress? We also cannot underestimate the appreciation of the contractors, subcontractors and suppliers who choose to bid our projects.

Next time, I'll discuss the BGS boilerplate documents. Your comments are welcome. Thank you. ~Joe Ostwald

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From Our History

The following is a brief excerpt from a copy of "Maine-ly Specs" from the issue listed as "dateline".  These are offered to allow current members to get a small glimpse of our past history.
 
Dateline - First published in February 1975

The Membership Committee reported the Membership had grown to 111 members and the Chapter Membership Renewal Rate was 96%. It was noted that the Maine Chapter received a “cash award” of $175 for placing 5th in an Institute Contest for Membership Renewal. President Bob Whitmore reported on a recent Institute Bylaws change that provided for equal voting rights for Industry Members. (NOTE: Prior to this change only Professional Members were eligible to vote in Institute elections.) The Chapter President also reported the Maine Chapter had 29 people (members and spouses) at the previous Region Conference. The Newsletter also reported that current Maine School Construction costs were in the neighborhood of $27.00 per sq. ft.

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Per-SPEC-tives

By: Ralph Liebling, RA, CSI, CDT; Cincinnati, Ohio

AUDACITY

You have to deal with, among other things, audacity?

I realize many of you are the first-responder spec writers who directly produce the products, either as in-house or consultant entities. But many of us have the distinct “privilege“ to deal with staff! That is those wonderful, renegades who stumble along trying to be wanna-be spec writers [note that remote relationship here].

In our practice, due to the high degree of similarity in our work, we “re-use” specifications, mainly through our system of office masters, edited to each project. These have been carved out from MasterSpec or have been ”home written” to meet some very peculiar circumstance that even Arcom won?t touch! Often, we get into dealing with various consultants, hired by us or the owner, and who produce, in their strident manner, specifications for their portions of our project. They are perceived [and often are] experts, but not the best of spec writers!

So we come to the “process of red-lining”-- that mysterious hokum of making changes to previously valid information. Oh, the specs often refer to state DOT standards for paving materials [which must change with jurisdictions] to the attempts to pilfer, reuse and OK, steal, specs from “other sources” and giving them our quirky twists to “make them fit”.? Such audacity!!!

First, we are not all that certain on where the copyrights lie, often times, and what reaction[s] might get conjured up, by staff, “adopting” some goodies from other source specs. So, we come to contend with .pdf?s and the messy format converting them by hand. We, in our shop, continually try to convince those “others" to quit that stuff-- we can write what we need, and indeed spend more time unraveling usually illegible red-lines, and the scavenger hunts for out-of-date [but “preferred”, as in easy way out!] text from projects long since archived. Do they actually want the identical product they bought 23 years ago-- and the company went under? Such audacity!

The really “good" part is when we call someone on their mis-deeds and their expression becomes priceless. Some are contrite; pretend innocence; some amazed [at what they did or didn?t do!]; and more often than not, conveying simple acquiescence, “Oh, OK, I „guess? that really is better” [but with glazed eye and no real acceptance or understanding of what happened]. Hey, we?re spec writers, not butt-savers-- do we resemble whoopee cushions??? The audacity of you to even think that way!

We [ i.e., I] "own" the specs in our office-- meaning only that anything wrong “belongs to me”! Oh, sure! All that indicates is that every project lead will want a different format for some unknown reason, or will excuse the request for the “sake of the client”. When we try to maintain course and change irrational things we often encounter attempts to undercut the effort with baseless reasoning which luckily the department head tends to scotch! Some people love to “design” or “redesign” the specs when there is absolutely no reason to do so. Such audacity!-- to think that some think we should have 15 sets of specs to match the specific whims of the 15 leads!

And the height of audacity when specifications are issued-- errr, “given out”; “transmitted”; “sent to”; shared”; “given over for review by...”, or otherwise “leaked” from the office with the spec writer later standing with thumb in ear, saying, ”I didn?t know anything about that. Why did they do that that way-- and against our SOP/policy?” Pure audacity!!!!! Trouble is, it is symptomatic of the prevailing thought process [if you let it get out of hand] where everybody wants to “piddle around” [since they know better than any one!] with the specs, but no one wants to ”do” the specs!! Everybody wants “write-access”, but then have absolutely no idea what to do and why!

“Course too, audacity is also wearing a tie; shining your shoes; coordinating the colors/patterns of your outfit or asking a really dumb [specs?] question in a team meeting!!!! Audacity, by Mother Nature, is having us shovel, plow, blow, load, scrape, chop, cube, implode, explode, pay for removal or otherwise dispose of the damned snow!!!!

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Certification Exams and Study Groups

By; Lori Rohr, CSI, CDT - Maine Chapter Certification Chair

The Institute has announce the spring exams for 2010 for the Construction Documents Technology (CDT) Certificate, the Certified Construction Specifier (CCS), Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) and Certified Construction Product Representative (CCPR). As in the past few years, the exams will be given electronically at the Prometric sites in South Portland and Bangor.

The 2010 exams will be updated to include questions on Building Information Modeling (BIM), Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Green Building, which will cover GreenFormat and Sustainabliity.

The Maine Chapter of CSI will be offering a free study group for the CDT exam. It will be taught by Dick Eustis, FCSI at the Bangor offices of WBRC with a direct link to the Portland office while Dick is teaching. Dick is very acknowledgeable about CSI and we are very lucky to have him volunteer his time. No dates or time have been established yet, but the study group typically starts in mid-November and runs every other week until mid-March. People interested in joining the study group should contact either Dick Eustis at eustis@infionline.net or Lori Rohr at lrohr@brannspecs.com.

There has also been a request for Dick to teach a study group for the Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) exam. The Facilities Group at the University of Maine Orono has volunteered a conference room for the study group if there is enough interest for this. People interested in this study group should also contact either Dick or Lori.

The exams will be given at Prometric test centers for a weeklong period of time. Candidates can register for the exam at a time that is convenient for them during this period of time. There are two exam sites in Maine and they are:

Prometric Test Center, 101 Foden Road, #20 Atlantic Place, South Portland.
Prometric Test Center, 1460 Outer Hammond Street, Unit 8, Bangor.

All exams will be offered for a week in the spring and again for a week in the fall. The Institute has announced the exam dates and the registration period for the spring exams. They are as follows:

Spring 2010 National Exams: March 29 - April 3, 2010
Early Registration Deadline: January 29, 2010
Final Registration Deadline: February 26, 2010

The cost of the exams are based on when you register and on whether you are a CSI member or not or if you are a student (CDT Exam only). The rates are as follows:

	Members	Non-Mem	Students
CDT Exam Costs
Early Registration	$235	$370	$105
Final Registration	$295	$430	$105
CCS, CCCA & CCPR Exam
Early Registration	$275	$410	N/A
Final Registration	$340	$475	N/A

There is a savings for being a member of CSI and those wishing to join the Maine Chapter are welcome. The chairpersons of the Membership Committee are Steve Dunn, steve_dunn@ici.com, Bill Charland, bill.charland@umit.maine.edu, and Linda Lowell, linda@capozzaflooring.com. They will be glad to answer any questions you may have regarding membership.

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From the Chapter Education Committee

By: Jeff Larimer, CSI, AIA - Maine Chapter Education Chair

The February meeting of Maine CSI was well attended by a wide cross section of people as the topic of the program was beneficial to all of us in the design and construction industry. Dick Lambert, Code Enforcement Officer for Saco, and Dick Dolby, former code Enforcement Officer for Augusta and newly appointed interim Director of Building Codes and Standards, gave a very informative update on the new Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code that goes into effect this year. The Technical Advisory Board has been working diligently for over a year to bring the new code to realization.

Architects, engineers and contractors in Maine have for years had to deal with a myriad of building codes simply because cities and towns throughout Maine used various editions of building codes, if they used one at all. Dubbed by the Bookings Institute as “Code Chaos”, the Maine legislature finally decided to change that. Beginning on June 1, 2010, the new Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code will go into effect in all Maine cities and towns that have a population greater than 2,000 people.

There will be a six month grace period until December 1, 2010 before the new code becomes official meaning that cities or towns that have an existing building code in effect can continue using that code or switch to the new code. After December 1, 2010, the only code that will be in effect statewide will be the new Maine building code. Finally, the design and construction industry will have a consistent building code to follow in Maine.

The basis for the new building codes is the 2009 editions of the International Building Code (IBC) and the International Residential Code (IRC). Other standards that have been adopted are the 2007 editions of ASHRAE 90.1, 62.1 and 62.2 and the 2008 edition of ASTM E-1465. While the State Fire Marshal’s office will continue to use NFPA 101 Life Safety Code, one of the tasks of the Board was to resolve conflicts between NFPA 101 and the IBC to make the code review process easier and more uniform.

As was stated by our presenters, it may not be perfect and it may be messy, but at least it’s a start in the right direction. Thanks to both Dick Lambert and Dick Dolby for an interesting and timely presentation.

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From the Chapter Membership Committee

BY: Steve Dunn, CSI - Chapter Membership Chair

Welcome everyone. We have been able to grow our chapter membership this year with the help of everyone. We are on track to meet the goal of 4% that was set by the institute for this fiscal year. We are one of forty nine chapters to do so. So keep up the good work. If anyone needs membership forms, please let me know. I may have to place another pin order if this keeps up, which I hope we can.