C.M. Architecture, P.A. Finds Answers with BSD SpecLink

Established in 1977, C.M. Architecture, P.A. (CMA) provides architectural and planning services to clients located throughout the United States. With offices centrally located in Minneapolis, MN and Fort Worth, TX, they continue to experience strong growth nationally.

CMA is an established and nationally recognized retail architectural design firm with multiple office locations in the United States. CMA’s highly talented staff provides design services to numerous worldwide-recognized retailers, with projects completed daily and in all 50 states.

The firm’s projects have been featured in Business Week magazine’s "Profiles of Leading Architectural, Engineering and Construction Management Firms" as well as many other industry publications.

CMA was ranked by DISPLAY & DESIGN IDEAS magazine as one of the Top 15 Firms, when comparing the amount of retail square footage (in millions) designed. CMA was also ranked by DISPLAY & DESIGN IDEAS magazine as one of the Top 30 Firms, when comparing the amount of retail billings (in millions) in 2003.

In addition to CMA’s retail and restaurant work, the firm is involved in the planning and design of numerous commercial, governmental, telecommunications, industrial, multi-family housing and institutional projects.

The need: Back in 1996 with a 40 person staff, CMA was experiencing many frustrations with their spec writing system. Sam Austin, Senior Project Architect, recalls, "With our previous commercial spec writing system, we had to wade through enormous amounts of information, and then delete what we didn’t want. Trying to accommodate differing client needs was also very time-consuming and frustrating. We were always experiencing out-of-date references and information." As the Chief Specification Writer for the company, Austin made the decision to find a better solution. After evaluating SpecLink and using it on his first project, Austin knew he had found his answer.

The solution: Says Austin, "For many years, I have written specs with most of the available systems, and I can assure you that SpecLink is the best I have used. We subscribed to SpecLink in the fall of 1996, just as I was starting work on a 185,000 square foot distribution center, so that became our ‘test project.’ On jobs of that size, we would normally have received 40–50 RFIs (Requests for Information) during construction. Largely due to the clarity and completeness of our specs (a two-volume Project Manual) using SpecLink, we had only 14 RFIs!"

Since that time, CMA has used SpecLink for every type and size of project, and has developed several in-house masters for repeat clients. "Like many firms, we are involved in a very broad range of project types and sizes, and we have been able to produce unique and unusual spec sections with minimal effort using SpecLink," states Austin. "It’s almost as easy as using any word processing software. With SpecLink, it is easier to select what you want. We simply make the selections for our project, and the intelligent linking power helps us do the rest. As a result, we have reduced our RFIs by 60-70% and our spec production time by 50-70%, depending on the project type."

"Of course," he continues, "any spec writing system takes a great deal of knowledge and careful thought, but SpecLink provides a really powerful tool to make the job so much easier."

The outcome: In addition to the time-savings, using SpecLink has resulted in specs that are more concise, complete, and accurate, giving CMA better control over product quality while significantly reducing contractor questions during bidding and construction.

"Developing spec masters with SpecLink has been very easy, and with the quarterly updates, there’s no worry about standards and references being out–of–date," says Austin. "Each update brings new sections, new features and improvements to the overall system."

Summarizes Austin, "From the very beginning, we got to know the people at BSD by using their excellent technical support. They are very knowledgeable, accessible, and always quick with answers. Our last eight years with the system have been very good ones, and the improvements continue to address our user requests. Spec writing is a challenging task, but SpecLink makes it a much more pleasant experience."

BSD SpecLink was used for CMA's E*TRADE building project.