Construction Specifications

NOTE-- We retired the complete MacNail construction software package in 2000. and replaced it with Goldenseal-- which handles construction spec writing, plus accounting, construction estimating, and project management, This manual is still online, as a courtesy to die-hard MacNail users! It is easier to add contract specifications text in Goldenseal, since that infomation is stored in each construction Assembly record.

New or Missing Items

The MacNail project management software checks each Specifications line item for a valid number in the 'code' column. It then looks in the 'code' column of the Clauses file to see if the code number is listed there. If it is there, a contract clause will be created using information from that line of the Clauses file.

If you've added a new line item and want to have it in your contracts, be sure to add a row for it in the Clauses file. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Open the Clauses file.
2. Click anywhere in the row where you'd like to add a new phrase.
3. Choose Add Rows from the Specs menu.
4. Type in the phrase (see pages 114-121).

If there is not a row in the Clauses file that matches the Specifications line item, you can also put a Cell Note into the source file, and have its text added to the contract by the MacNail construction management software .

To put a Cell Note into an estimate, project list, schedule or spec sheet, follow these steps:
1. Choose Excel Menus from the Navigate menu, to switch to the regular Excel menu commands.
2. Click in the first column of the row where you'd like to add the note.
3. Choose Unprotect Document from the Options menu.
NOTE: If the menu command reads Protect Document, the document is already unprotected.
4. Choose Note from the Formula menu.
5. Type in a sentence or two describing the line item, then click OK.
6. Choose Protect Document from the Options menu. Be sure that you do not enter a password.
7. Choose Spec Writer Menus from the Window menu to return to the Spec Writer menu commands.
8. Make a contract from the file. The text of the Cell Note will be added to it.

NOTE: When you make a contract from an estimate, you'll be asked whether to make a project list first. If you've added Cell Notes to the estimate, say 'no'. The contract-writing process will take longer, but the Cell Notes will be preserved and added to the contract.

If there is not a Cell Note in the first column of a row whose code is missing from the Clauses file, an error message will be added to the contract, warning about the missing item (see page 61). When you check the contract, you can then either eliminate the error message, or write in your own contract clause.

NOTE: In a subcontract, any items that can't be found in the Clauses file will be skipped completely.