Hundreds of RFIs.
Dozens of change orders.
Your fee gone.
Your reputation on the line.
Imagine finishing a project where the contractor had almost no questions, the owner called to say this was the smoothest running project they have done, and offered you a second project before this one closed out.You accomplished this without working on weekends and had a great time playing with your kids instead. Construction admin is finally profitable.Spesify delivers complete, coordinated specs according to your demanding schedules so your next project feels exactly like that.
$2 BILLION
IN DESIGN, COST, AND
SPECIFICATION PROJECTS.
30 YEARS+
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROJECTS
IN HAWAII AND THE PACIFIC.
AIA. CSI. CCP.
LICENSED ARCHITECT. SPECIFIER.
CERTIFIED COST PROFESSIONAL.
WHO YOU ARE WORKING WITH
Vinson Hiraoka
PRINCIPAL, SPESIFY LLC • HONOLULU, HAWAII
I have spent 30 years working across every phase of design, estimating, and spec writing in Hawaii, Guam, and Japan. Public and private sector projects ranging from $100K to $200M.I started Spesify because small Hawaii firms deserve professional spec writing without a full-time hire. Every engagement comes directly through me. Principal level. No juniors. No handoffs.Ready to talk about your next project? Email me.
THE REAL COST OF DOING SPECS IN-HOUSE
Bad specs don't send you a bill. They send you RFIs and change orders.
Most small Hawaii architecture firms don't have a dedicated spec writer. The principal writes the specs or a project architect does it on nights and weekends. Under immovable deadline pressures, you squeak by using a 20 year old office master that has never been updated. Outdated references, missing sections, and standards that changed years ago. Nobody has had the time to fix it.It is not a failure of effort. It is a structural problem. The firm is too small to justify a full-time spec writer and not generating enough work to keep one busy. So the specifications fall on the people who can least afford to spend their time on it.You already know what good specs look like. You want them. You just do not have the time, the budget structure, or the updated templates to produce them consistently. This is the exact gap Spesify was built to close.
The Fee Problem.
Small firms keep spec fees invisible to stay competitive. No line item. Just a few extra hours buried in drawings or PM. It feels like a smart way to win work but it is actually a slow, invisible drain on the practice. The fee never covers the real effort and the specs suffer. Weak specs generate RFIs and change orders. RFIs and change orders burn construction admin fees like an unstoppable lava flow. The project closes unprofitable and the cycle repeats. Nobody wins a race to the bottom.
The Time Problem.
Specs always get written last. Design comes first. Drawings come first. Specs get whatever hours are left which means it's 8pm on a Sunday before a Monday deadline. The principal opens a MasterFormat 95 master that hasn't been touched in 20 years. Products are obsolete and references are superseded. Nothing's coordinated with the drawings.The only move is to copy from the last project and hope nothing critical was missed. And here's the part nobody says out loud. The principal often isn't much better trained at specs than the junior they were afraid to hand it to. Exhausted. Undertrained. Working without a net. That's the document that goes out for bid.
The Construction Problem.
Hawaii's a small market and word travels fast. When a project drowns in RFIs and change orders, people notice. Novice owners wonder what went wrong. Experienced owners already know. It starts with gaps in the drawings and specs. Every poorly written section generates more questions, more disputes, more delays.Each RFI is 30 minutes or more of valuable attention. Some take days or weeks to resolve. None of that time was in the fee. The project becomes massively unprofitable and your reputation takes the hit. The next job goes to someone else.
For Architects:
We Understand Your Needs
Your clients demand aggressive design schedules. No matter what size your team is, specifications take up a significant amount of time which could be spent on other aspects of work.For project architects, this includes design, project management, quality control, coordination, and more.For principals, it is even more valuable to have time to run your business, stay on top of finances, and get more work.By working with Spesify, your in-house team will save precious time and reduce stress. Redirect your physical and mental energies to concentrate on designing wonderful architecture. Leave the ASTM standards, tedious formatting, and installation criteria to us.
Better Specifications
Reduce Risk & Changes
During Design:
We create specifications that are:
• Clear, concise, correct, and complete.
• Fully coordinated with your drawings.
• Great specs aren’t boilerplate, they’re project-specific tools that back up the quality of your design and reduce risk.
During Bidding:
Stronger specs reduce contractor RFIs and addenda, making the bidding process smoother and more predictable. They also lead to more competitive bids which increase client confidence.
During Construction:
• Reduce submittal review times and save money.
• Lower exposure to costly change orders.
• Help keep projects moving on schedule.In other words: fewer surprises, fewer disputes, and fewer headaches.
Transform Your Specification Experience
| Transform Your Self-Performed Specs From: | To | High-Performance Spesify Specs |
|---|---|---|
| Specs as an afterthought and secondary consideration. | to | Specs as a top-priority done professionally. |
| Poorly coordinated with your drawings. | to | Well-coordinated with your drawings reducing risk and liability. |
| Less time for drawings, more stress, weaker design. | to | More time for drawings, reduced stress, wonderful design. |
| Ambiguous, too wordy, wrong or missing information, and incomplete. | to | Clear, concise, correct, and complete. |
| Inflated staff effort during bidding and construction. | to | Reduced time and effort means more profit and less stress. |
| Other consultants are difficult to work with. | to | Accountability, reliability, and trust are core values and practices. |
| Poor specs and increased problems signal low quality to your clients. | to | Emphasize your high quality, high performance reputation. |
For Building Product Manufacturers:
Be Technically Competitive
Competition is fierce in the design and construction industry. As a manufacturer of construction related products and materials, this is serious business.In order to compete, you need to be technically sound. One of the major things architects and engineers look for are master guide specifications. They make it easier to specify your products and incorporate them into projects.If you're not in project specs, you're not in the game. You're losing out on massive sales opportunities. The name of the game is get specified to get more sales.
Get More Opportunities With
Master Guide Specifications
We help BPMs create master guide specs for their product lines. We start by evaluating product literature and performance requirements.We then integrate this information into CSI MasterFormat sections while making them AIA MasterSpec compatible.For existing specifications which may be organized in MasterFormat 95 (old standard) and have outdated references, we can bring them up to current industry standards.Once you have your MGSs made, you can post them on your website and other locations. AECs can now easily access them and incorporate them into their project specs.Get specified, get more sales.
About Our Team
We Deliver Quality
Best Industry Standards
We utilize AIA MasterSpec and MasterFormat documents to give you the most current industry-standard architectural specs customized to your project.
Technical Expertise
We use cloud apps to systematically coordinate our work with you and automate the review process. Every section is itemized and well documented. Everyone works with the same shared information.
On-Time Delivery
We pay close attention to schedules and plan our work in advance of project milestones. We work closely with your architects and staff to make sure your drawings and our specs work together seamlessly.
Easy To Work With
Accountability and Trust
Your business success is our business success. We take accountability for our performance seriously. Trust is earned every single day.
Relationships With Aloha
We understand what local relationships, culture, and communication are all about. Respect, responsibility, and humility are our core beliefs.
No Aggravation Policy
We believe working together should be a positive team experience for both parties. Relationships which create unnecessary hardships aren't tolerated.
Connect With Us Today
Reach out today and let's discuss how we can work together to make your projects a success. You can also connect with me on Linkedin and send me a direct message if you prefer.
Email:
Phone:
Address:
Spesify LLC
Honolulu, Hawaii 96818 USA
Kindly fill out the form below and We'll respond to you shortly.
© 2024-2026 Spesify LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Better Specifications.