What are Standards?

Standards is a feature that helps restructure and manage recurring specifications. 

For designers or firms working on multiple projects that have the same specifications, “Standards” folders lets you specify items that will be consistent across various projects. Though there are a number of applications, here’s one of the most likely examples.

Imagine you’re working on a hospitality chain with multiple locations. Obviously, most of the specifications will repeat from project to project. This feature lets you build out entire specification packages in one “Standards” folder which you can then copy into projects as linked specifications corresponding to each location. This means that when you update a specification in the “Standards” folder, the updates carry over to each linked specification (or the linked specifications that you designate) within each project. We call these linked specifications “Specification Instances.” The below graphic helps diagram this concept.

But This Feature Is Bigger Than Just Brand Standards

The feature can be utilized more abstractly as well. Let’s say your firm’s sustainability leadership wants to curate specifications based on sustainability criteria that can be easily applied to any project. That’s a perfect use case for “Standards” folders and Specification Instances too. 

Note, you will also have the option to archive a project if you want any Specification Instance to stop updating.

Currently, editable fields for Specification Instances include Code/Tag, Submission Dates, “Spaces”/“Rooms” and Unit Cost. You'll also notice that you can add Specification Instance Attributes and Nested Specifications, but to be clear, these fields are new fields and do not replace Attributes and Nested Specifications for the specifications in the Standard folder. By this, we mean you can use both! (Learn more about What are Spec instances?)

Both Projects and Standards are grouped inside the new “Folders” section. Click on the “[+] New Folder” button on the top right to create either.

If you are interested in knowing more about this new feature or have any questions, please feel free to start a chat with us below in the right corner.