New Spec Division Proves DIRTT is Process – Not Product
At the annual CSI Board meeting this summer, DIRTT will be recognized and added to the MasterFormat as a new section under Division 13 – Special Construction and 13 40 00 – Integrated Construction. DIRTT is called out as Integrated Prefab Interior Construction. This designation aligns with what DIRTT is doing in the world of interior construction. The section demonstrates that a DIRTT project is a different method of construction – including design assist – rather than simply looking at materials and components.
Division 13 is called Special Construction. These sections include items requiring specialty design, meaning they’re designed as full units or as an integrated solution, rather than multiple trades putting the item specified together using conventional construction methods. Many of the sections would require a Design Assist Partner in the pre-construction phase of a project, to ensure cost certainty, constructability and coordination amongst all other trades and design professionals.
The new Division 13 specification section properly aligns DIRTT’s unique offering in the world of interior construction. DIRTT’s integrated approach to construction is a Design Assist Partner model via the intelligent BIM nature of our ICE® software. Further integration occurs on the jobsite, where DIRTT’s precisely manufactured components install to meet and combine with conventional construction materials and dimensions. This new section will allow the construction industry to recognize DIRTT as a multi-trade, prefabricated method of construction, rather than a product.
As a result of this change, design professionals producing construction documents, including both contractual and technical specifications, can better align with the construction drawings. They will be able to provide additional information for the proper procurement and execution of the scope-of-work defined within the documents. When DIRTT is properly implemented as a fully integrated solution, the new Division 13 specification section can be used to specify the solution as a whole, rather than specifying in multiple specification sections, which in the past included the Division 10 Demountable section, a space where DIRTT was often relegated.
DIRTT has always fit into the construction process as a multi-trade solution rather than a product or single trade. However, this designation will now streamline the experience and allow for it to be more easily communicated. Now that it is in the Division 13 area, those in the construction industry will have a better understanding of how to work with DIRTT’s method of construction, where it is normal to have a different approach to the drawings for scope, budgeting and scheduling.
For more information on this, please contact your local DIRTT Rep.
