Applied Building Information
Welcome to the wheelhouse
Applied Building Information, LLC (ABI) is the premier construction specifications firm in the Pacific Northwest. We help clients of all sizes find the products best-suited to their design and performance requirements. Our masters have been refined over hundreds of projects to meet the needs of today’s leading designs. Whether it’s a full-sized city block or a straightforward interior renovation, we’ve got you covered.
Our construction specifications service typically involves working with design teams and stakeholders to produce specifications for a single construction project. We can support the project through all phases of design and construction – providing one or more deliverables at each phase.
What are specs and why do we need them?
Construction specifications describe the materials and products used in the construction of a project: their design and performance criteria, how they’re installed, and how they’re to be maintained after construction. But in simple terms, you can think of construction specifications like a shopping list for materials in a building.
Specifications are organized in a systematic way to minimize the things that get forgotten. Many design teams won’t forget the flooring, but smaller details such as bathroom partition hardware can be forgotten quite often. Through our collaborative process, we work through all of those details with each client – refining the materials list to the unique needs of their project.
Anyone can buy generic specifications that contain every possible material that any type of building could ever need. But what design professional has the time to review hundreds of pages that don’t apply to their project? For example, is a morgue refrigerator really necessary for a school? Does an apartment need a specimen pass-through cabinet? While it may be entertaining to read about, the impact to the project’s bottom line is no joke.
Concise construction specifications are a clear sign that the design team has it together. The contractor can price the job more accurately and everyone can avoid dealing with 1000 RFIs about unnecessary products.
How are we different?
You don’t need to be a specifications or materials expert. From kickoff meeting to Final CDs and beyond, we’re here to help.
The more you know about specs, the more value you’ll get out of the experience. So if you have any questions along the way, don’t hesitate to ask. We understand that construction specifications are not at the top of everyone’s reading list.
You know your design; we know specs. But we also know that it takes a lot of teamwork and communication to create something great. You can consider us part of the team and we’re happy to help you find the materials that live up to the aspirations of your design. Our processes have been optimized to be smooth, efficient, and effective.
We understand that every business has different requirements, different goals, different starting points, and different budgets. Our estimating framework has been designed to be flexible and account for these variables. Whether you have six deliverables or it’s “one-and-done”, we can build a proposal scope that makes sense for your project.
You may have meet some specifiers that are very strict about what they will and won’t specify. If your project doesn’t fit nicely in their list, you’re out of luck. Not at ABI.
When we start a project, we’ll meet you where you’re at. Already have some materials figured out? Is another consultant providing some of the specifications? Does your project have some new sustainability requirements? No problem.
Project examples
We work on a wide range of project types: from one-room interior renovations, to downtown high-rises, hospital campuses, and more.
Requirements
We have lots of experience handling special requirements: from LEED V4 and Living Building Challenge, to Behavior Health material requirements and more.