Special specification (CSC): the definition
By the ArchiMind teamUpdated on
The special specification is the project version of the specification: the reference text reduced to the articles the project needs, the choices made, the project’s own additions and its quantities. It is the document tenderers price.
Definition
The special specification is the project version of the specification. In Belgian public procurement it is abbreviated CSC, from the French cahier spécial des charges. It holds the reference text reduced to the articles the project needs, the choices made where that text leaves options open, the project’s own additions, and the bill of quantities.
It is the document tenderers price and, once the contract is awarded, the document that governs execution.
How it is derived from the reference
The derivation takes three moves. You select the articles of the reference that actually describe the work. You complete the passages the text leaves to the project: in the CCTB those are the parts marked as to be specified. Finally you add what no article covers, written in the manner of the reference so the reading stays even.
The document states the edition it follows. That sentence matters: it makes the reference text contractual and fixes the numbering the articles point to.
What attaches to it
The bill of quantities, the drawings and, depending on the contract, a required exchange format for the files all attach to the special specification. An inconsistency between text and quantities — an item with no article, an article with no quantity, a measurement type that does not match — is paid for at settlement.
A last pass before issue therefore pays: every item has its article, every choice made is written out, and every citation comes from the stated edition. That quarter of an hour costs less than a single disputed item on site.
In ArchiMind
ArchiMind produces the special specification and its bill of quantities from one tree: the selected articles, the project’s additions and the quantities live in the same place, and the checks flag orphan items and citations from another edition before issue.
Related terms
- Specification — the document and its two parts
- CCTB — the reference text it derives from
- The CCTB explained — the guide, including the section on derivation
Sources and references
Frequently asked questions
Must the CCTB text be copied into the special specification?
No. The special specification cites every article by its index and title and states the CCTB edition it follows: the reference text forms an integral part of the contract documents without being reproduced in them. Only the passages the project must complete are written out in full.
Who writes the special specification?
The project author writes it for the client, who approves and publishes it with the contract notice. Engineering consultants supply the parts that concern them. The document binds all three: it fixes what the contractor must execute and what will be paid.