The Federal Facilities Council (FFC) (formerly the Federal ConstructionCouncil) is a continuing activity of the Board on Infrastructureand the Constructed Environment (BICE) of the National Research Council(NRC). The purpose of the FFC is to promote continuing cooperationamong the sponsoring federal agencies and between the agencies andother elements of the building community in order to advance buildingscience and technology--particularly with regard to the design, construction,and operation of federal facilities. Currently, 18 agencies sponsorthe FFC:

Department of the Air Force, Office of the Civil Engineer

Department of the Air Force, Air National Guard

Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers

Department of the Army, Construction Engineering Research Laboratories

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation

Department of Energy, Office of Project and Facilities Management

Department of the Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command

Department of State, Office of Foreign Buildings Operations

Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Construction Management

General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Facilities EngineeringOffice

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Building and FireResearch Laboratory

National Endowment for the Arts, Design Program

National Science Foundation, Structural Systems and ConstructionProcesses Program

Smithsonian Institution, Office of Facilities Service

U.S. Information Agency, Voice of America

U.S. Public Health Service, Office of Management

U.S. Postal Service, Facilities.

As part of its activities, the FFC periodically publishes reportslike this one that have been prepared by committees of governmentemployees. Since these committees are not appointed by the NRC, theydo not make recommendations, and their reports are considered FFCpublications rather than NRC publications.

For further information on the FFC program or FFC reports, pleasewrite to: Executive Secretary, Federal Facilities Council, Boardon Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment, 2101 ConstitutionAvenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20418.

Henry A. Borger,Executive Secretary,

Federal Facilities Council, National Research Council, Washington,DC

Construction-related standards are published by many organizations,including ASTM, Inc., the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA),and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). In the past,a variety of standards also were prepared by federal agencies; however,agencies now rely heavily on nongovernment standards in accordancewith Circular A-119 of the Office of Management and Budget.

Standards are essential to the functioning of the design and constructionindustry. They are incorporated by reference in contracts and otherlegal documents in all phases of the design and construction processto specify design features, product characteristics, levels of quality,test procedures, and installation practices. Standards permit theparticipants in the design and construction process—owners, designprofessionals, government regulators, contractors, and manufacturers—to communicate vast amounts of information with one another succinctlyand precisely. Standards also eliminate the need for participantsin the process to become experts in fields other than their own.Architects, for example, need not know how portland cement is manufacturedin order to specify concrete; they only need to know what concretestandards to reference and the limitations of those standards.

There is considerable evidence, however, that many users of standards(e.g., building owners and designers) do not understand the vitalrole of standards in the design and construction process or appreciatethe importance of their participation in standards-development activities.It is also believed that specification writers (both public and private)sometimes are reluctant to reference standards that they have nothelped develop.

In the belief that this is an undesirable situation, the ConsultingCommittee on Construction Specifications of the Federal FacilitiesCouncil (FFC) held a symposium in July 1994 at the National Academyof Sciences to identify actions that might be taken to encouragebuilding owners and

designers to play a more active role than they have in the past inthe standards-making process.

The symposium was cosponsored by the American Institute of Architects(AIA), the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), the NationalInstitute of Building Sciences (NIBS), and the National Society ofProfessional Engineers (NSPE). The AIA is the preeminent professionalsociety for architects in the United States. The CSI is a professionaland industry association for advancing construction technology andconstruction specifications. NIBS is an interdisciplinary institutedevoted to the advancement of building science. NSPE is an interdisciplinarysociety devoted to promoting the ethical, competent, and licensedpractice of engineering.

This report comprises summaries of papers presented at the symposiumand an edited transcript of a round-table discussion held at theend of the symposium. The opinions expressed by the authors of thepapers and the participants in the round-table discussion do notnecessarily represent the views of the FFC or the other sponsoringorganizations. However, it is believed that the report contains relevantand timely information that will be useful to federal agencies andthe entire design and construction community.