Guide specifications
Sections you can paste into the project manual
Three-part CSI sections written around the lines I represent, in the format your project manual already uses. Every performance figure, listing and warranty term comes from the manufacturer’s own published sheet. Where the manufacturer does not publish something, the section says [VERIFY WITH MANUFACTURER] and explains why it matters, instead of carrying a number I made up. Bracketed text marks the choices that are yours to make.
- CSI three-part format
- Word download on every page
- Manufacturer figures only
- Bracketed for your choices
- Florida code articles built in
- Not a stamped document
What these are
A basis of design, not a brochure
A guide specification is the document a rep is supposed to hand an architect or an engineer: the section text, in CSI three-part format, with the product I represent as the basis of design. You edit it, you own it, and it goes into your project manual. That is the whole point — a specification is only useful if it can be edited, so every one of these is bracketed wherever a real choice exists and downloadable in Word.
What makes these different from most rep guide specs is what they refuse to say. If the manufacturer does not publish a power factor, a salt-spray result, an ambient range or a certificate number, the section carries [VERIFY WITH MANUFACTURER] in that spot and a note on why the gap matters, rather than a plausible-looking figure. There are dozens of those markers across these five documents. They are the most useful part.
These are not stamped or sealed documents and they are not engineering. The engineer of record is responsible for the final section, its design values, and its coordination with the rest of the manual. If you want me to look at a draft against a specific job, send me the project.
Division 26 09 — Instrumentation and control for electrical systems
26 09 23 Lighting Control Devices
Controls are what the Florida Building Code Energy Conservation section actually forces onto the job, so this one is organised by code clause rather than by part number.
Division 26 51 — Interior lighting
26 51 00 Interior Lighting
Linear, recessed and downlighting sections. Both of these lines are made to order, which changes what Part 1 has to ask for.
Division 26 56 — Exterior lighting
26 56 00 Exterior Lighting
Site, parking and landscape. These carry the two Florida articles that decide whether an exterior package gets approved: the energy-code reduction rules, and the turtle coast.
The honest part
Three things worth knowing before you specify any of these
No DLC listing on three of these lines
Finelite, Liton and FC Lighting publish no DLC listing anywhere. That is not a defect — plenty of excellent product is unlisted — but prescriptive utility rebates pay against the QPL, so a rebate should not go in a budget on those catalog numbers without checking first. Each section says so in Part 1.
FWC turtle certification is soft right now
DMF states in its own bulletin that its turtle fixtures are not currently FWC listed and that the program has been closed to submissions since April 2025. FC claims nine certified models but publishes no certificate number or date. If a Broward or Palm Beach reviewer wants a certified product number, raise it at design stage, not at submittal. See the sea turtle page.
Coastal corrosion data is thin
FC publishes 5,000 hours ASTM B117. Gardco and DMF publish no salt-spray result at all, on any finish, including the finishes sold for marine service. On an oceanfront job that is a question to put to the factory in writing before the schedule is issued.
Questions
About these guide specifications
Can I edit these?
That is what they are for. Download the Word file, delete what does not apply, resolve the brackets, and put your own front matter on it. Nothing in them is locked and nothing is proprietary to me.
Are these stamped or sealed?
No, and they are not engineering. They are a basis of design issued by the manufacturer’s representative. The engineer of record is responsible for the final section, the design values in it, and its coordination with the rest of the project manual.
What does [VERIFY WITH MANUFACTURER] mean?
It means the manufacturer does not publish that value, so I will not print one. Each marker carries a short note on why the gap matters — a missing EPA breaks a pole calculation, a missing salt-spray figure matters three miles from the ocean. I can usually get the answer from the factory in writing if you need it; ask me.
Will you write one for a line that is not here?
Yes. I quote 163 lines through SESCO Lighting — the line card has all of them. Tell me which line and which section you need and I will build it the same way.
Do these carry the Florida code requirements?
The relevant ones, yes. The exterior sections carry the FBC-EC 8th Edition (2023) control rules and the HVHZ pole-and-anchorage point; the controls section is organised around C405 clause by clause with the C408.3 functional testing in Part 3; the coastal sections carry the sea-turtle articles. Confirm the clause numbering against the code edition in force at your permit date.
Next step
Send me the project
If you want one of these tuned to a specific job — or a section for a line that is not here yet — send me the drawings or the fixture schedule and I will come back with it.