This episode tackles a big industry gap: architecture schools barely teach specifications, even though they make up half of real-world construction documents. Dave, Steve, and Elias compare their own “learn-it-on-the-job” experiences with new efforts at Drexel and WashU, where students finally get a taste of Uniformat, MasterFormat, and the fundamentals of spec writing.
They highlight how Conspectus is training the next generation—using markup reviews, real drawings, and hands-on mentorship—and emphasize that great specifiers don’t need to start as architects. Roofers, English majors, contractors…all are welcome if they love details, problem-solving, and how buildings actually go together.
The takeaway? Specs deserve a place in architectural education—and in more career paths than people realize.
