Write a specification section that a contractor can price accurately and a site can build from — performance stated, products defined, workmanship and tolerances given, and the coordination with the drawings made explicit. Use when asked to write a specification, spec a material or system, prepare an NBS-style section, or when a specification produced wildly different tender prices. Produces the scope and interface definition, the performance requirements, the product or system definition, execution and tolerance requirements, and the submittals and testing schedule.
“Write a specification section for the external cladding”“Our tender prices came back wildly different — is it the spec?”“How do I write a performance specification for windows?”“What should 'or equal approved' actually say?”“Write the execution and tolerance clauses for this finish”
What to give it
▸The element — what is being specified, and where it occurs in the building
▸The performance it must achieve — structural, thermal, acoustic, fire, weather, durability, or appearance
▸The selection basis — whether a specific product is intended, or a performance outcome is being sought
▸The interfaces — what this element meets, and which other trades are involved
▸The procurement context — the contract form, the specification system in use, and whether equivalents are permitted
✅ The bar it holds itself to
Every skill in this library self-verifies — these are this skill's own quality checks, straight from its definition.
✓Scope states what is excluded and which section covers it
✓Every performance requirement has a criterion, a standard, and a test method
✓The specification mode is deliberate and consistent within the section
✓The equivalence rule states the evidence, the approver, and the deadline
✓Tolerances are given for every dimension that matters
✓Submittals distinguish what is needed before order from before installation
✓Precedence between specification and drawings is stated
⚠️ What it refuses to do
**'Or equal approved' with no rule.** Guarantees a dispute at tender and again at submittal.
**Unmeasurable performance.** 'Robust', 'high quality', 'to a good standard' — none of these can be priced or enforced.
**Silence on tolerance.** The tolerance becomes whatever was built.
**Mixing prescriptive and performance by accident.** Contractors price the risk, and price it high.
**No interface allocation.** The junction is everyone's responsibility, so it is nobody's.
Install
npx pm-claude-skills add --agent claude # or codex · cursor · gemini · hermes
# or one-line MCP (every skill, any client):
claude mcp add pm-skills -- npx -y -p pm-claude-skills pm-claude-skills-mcp