As BLDUP continues to spotlight CRE industry experts, one common theme has emerged, there is no substitute for good old-fashioned experience. In this Q&A we sit down with Mr. Peter Sedgwick from Architectural Specifications Consultants (ASC) and Specifiers and Product Consultants (SPC) to discuss the changing world of door hardware specifications and independent door hardware manufacturers in a rapidly evolving industry.

BLDUP: Specifications are drivers for a successful project from both a budget and schedule standpoint but oftentimes they are “cut and pastes” of previously generated documents and are not project specific. ASC prepares unique hardware specifications for Architects and Owners why are you still doing this when manufacturers will just send it for free?

Peter Sedgwick: ASC works for the architect or client – they should receive everything that is required to ensure that the specifications are complete and will work with the security and access control systems in that particular building. No two buildings are ever the same. Duplicated over and over will result in bad specifications being used to bid and build a project.

BLDUP: What differentiates an ASC spec from a canned manufacturer-provided specification?

Peter Sedgwick: ASC builds from the ground up, every specification we create is unique to that building. ASC  specifications include an ID number assigned to every part number used, this number appears next to the model number in the hardware sets. Cutsheets are then labeled with the ID for easy review by non-hardware people to see what the item is. No other major consultant firm does what ASC does.

BLDUP: What project types do you provide specifications for?

Peter Sedgwick: ASC has done almost anything asked of it, Class A office, Lab & Research Facilities, Multi-family projects, Community Centers, Automobile dealers ships, Public safety complexes, and Higher education. We recently worked on a behavioral hospital and a school for children with severe physical disabilities, both projects required many non-standard hardware items to achieve what was required of the door hardware.

BLDUP: In addition to preparing hardware specification documents you also formed an industry organization called SPC. Tell us a bit about this organization and why you formed it.

Peter Sedgwick: SPC is an offshoot of ASC but on a national level. Michael O’Connor (my business partner) and I both firmly and passionately believe in the independence of manufacturers, their sales force, and individual hardware specifiers. But they are being removed from most specifications due to the power of the four largest hardware companies doing their specifications for free. We have devised systems, a website, and a specification program to get them back in the game as a united front of independently thinking people.

BLDUP: It is easy to see why architects can use support in specification preparation and manufacturer selection. How does SPC support these efforts?

Peter Sedgwick: SPC has a host of options available to them the others can not match. Due to the innovative nature of the smaller company, they must find niches that others just will simply not do, by offering finishes, designs and products that are unmatched. When discussing the hardware with the owner/architect we bring to the table all of this and the professionalism of working as a team player, not one that is only interested in his own company’s best interest. Better people, better resources, and better specifications hands down.

BLDUP: SPC’s geographic reach through its network is wide-reaching, speak to us about why this is so important to a project's success.

Peter Sedgwick: SPC  is currently reaching a national and international area, our architects work overseas and we must accommodate that. With such a large footprint in the USA and Canada, we can cover the territory not only in the specifications but in the troubleshooting of a project, deliveries, walk thru all from local sources to any given project.

BLDUP: Both ASC and SPC provide decades of proven success in a boutique technical niche, what are key takeaways that would benefit a design team/Owner in speaking with your firm and your network of independent manufacturers representatives?

Peter Sedgwick: SPC/ASC work with the owner/architect first and foremost, we hear them, when they discuss their desires for any given project they either own or are designing. Even if the project is in California, with a Boston Based architect and Miami-based owner, we can have representatives meet with them on short notice about any given project. And we are able to bring to the table all of the deliverables we have already discussed. We are the team to best assist them with all their door hardware and opening needs.