Basis of Design (BOD)

We have not seen specs submitted as BOD but we have had several owners that will only provide their campus design standard book as the Owner's Project Requirements (OPR) document. This includes the Army Corp of Engineers only providing the project RFQ document as their OPR.

This is a disturbing trend, if it extends farther. You are right Peter, the specifications are not a description of how the project is to operate and meet the OPR goals. We have not had that problem, but I would say we are having trouble getting a very complete BOD (or OPR for that matter). That is unfortunate, since I think a well written OPR and BOD goes a long way to establishing a fundimental communication and baseline for the whole team, and making sure the owner fully understands the systems and operations of the project. Frankly, this manages the risks of the design team and makes sure the owner can express their understanding and concerns over the project. Unfortunately, under v3 of LEED Online, you do not have to upload a lot of detail, but the CxA does need to initial that the BOD is acceptable. So this puts a lot of pressure on the CxA. The owner is to initial that the OPR expresses the requirements of the project. Our firm does both sides of this, design and Cx, so from the design side, we normally start with our SD narrative as the foundation of our part of the BOD, then expand and keep it up to date over the course of the project, even into construction. The focus needs to be on HOW, not WHAT.