Spec-Busting

Spec busting??? What on earth is all that about?  For the uninitiated, the ‘art’ of spec-busting concerned with taking lighting design documentation, usually produced by a professional design consultant, and then offering equivalent alternative fixtures to the client to save them some money.

What’s wrong with that then?

The problem is that the only people who win are the contractors. Yep, the spec-busters.  Let’s use an example to illustrate why: take a light fixture that has been specified with a value of $100. Let’s say it’s a downlight, for argument’s sake. You can get downlights for $50 or you could spend $200 but the designer has chosen the $100 downlight because that is the one that fits with the project budget which was advised by the client/QS AND that’s the one that the calculations are based on.

All things being equal, the $200 downlight will perform best, the $50 downlight the worst.  The $100 downlight was  chosen and then the design was optimised to make the most efficient use of the product and hence using the minimum number to achieve the required lighting levels. Moreover, the $100 downlight has been properly assessed, we’ve seen a sample, checked the build quality, warranty, quality of control gear and lamp, ease of installation and maintenance. It’s probably from a manufacturer we trust and have used previously. It probably is backed by technical support staff who will be able to provide after-sales service. In short, there was a lot of thought that went into the specification of this product.

Next thing the specification is issued to the contractor for quoting. Here’s what happens: contractor wants to make his quote as competitive as possible and offers the client potential savings on the lighting equipment. He sees a downlight and thinks “a downlight’s a downlight; why do we need to spend $100 when we can spend $50. Or $30”?  Contractor looks good in the eyes of the client (who’s probably wondering why their consultant was wasting their money on expensive fittings in the first place).  But the contractor isn’t passing on the savings to the client. They’ll substitute for the $30 fitting and offer it to the client for $60. The client thinks he’s saving $40 per fitting (and there might be lots of them and hence a lot of money).

But guess what? You get what you pay for.  The client gets a way inferior product that won’t perform nearly as well as that specified. I have never experienced a contractor finding a better value for money fixture than the one we specified. Like ever. Stands to reason doesn’t it? We’re professional lighting consultants, that’s what we do for a living every day. The contractor isn’t.

Who would you trust to choose the lights?