Chapter 11 Local specifications and design documents

The local specification provides the key document to describe exactly what the procurer of a project wants, in terms of quality. This can done descriptively, using constituent recipes and method statements for manufacture and installation, or prescriptively describing the finished road construction. Most specifications use a combination of both. There is a national specification in the UK that provides most of the information required, though it is only intended for the construction of major highways; it uses European Standards for materials and products. Local designers may supplement this as required but primarily select from a menu of product properties and installed characteristics, i.e. the particular ones they require for their project. This information is given to the contractor using additional/replacement specification clauses, contract-specific appendices and the contract drawings. These must all fit together and contain no conflicts or ambiguities.