Details

One of the ways that Architekwiki could be helpful is by sharing standard construction details.Compared to other types of posts, there are a lot more issues surrounding drawing details.

• What type of details would the majority of visitors find helpful?
• What format should the details be presented in?
• Quantity or quality?
• Liability / disclaimer?
• Mix the details with other posts or make this a separate feature?
• Where would the details come from?
• How would you make it easy to find a type of detail?

Well here are the provisional answers that I have. Surely they will change over time.

• What type of details would the majority of visitors find helpful? Well obviously the solution to what they are working on at the moment. Since this isn't envisioned as an outsourcing service, the details will have to be a bit more prosaic - standard details of fairly standard project components that could be used pretty much as-is, and details of conditions that are often found but which are not likely to fit any project exactly. This last type might be considered a 'starting point' detail
• What format should the details be offered in? The ideal would probably be a dwg file that was also converted to a jpeg for display purposes on the website. Maybe we will get to that solution eventually; but for now a jpeg, or possibly a pdf, will have to do. There just isn't the time available to prepare CAD files.
  
• Quantity or quality? I think you have to try to find a balance. Low quality and the details is mostly useless, or does a disservice. Low quantity and the usefulness won't arrive for a decade.
• Liability / disclaimer? This is a concern, and something clear and simple will need to be done. 
• Mix the details with other posts or make this a separate feature? I think this needs to be a separate feature - eventually. Until there is a critical mass of details, mixed in with the other posts makes it easier to get started. 
• Where would the details come from? Eventually we might expect contributions from all over. For now our standard details and 'clippings' from completed projects will be the source.
• How do you make it easy to find a type of detail? I think the only coherent way to organize and name the details is to use the assembly divisions that you find in RS Means cost estimating publications. The more that I have looked into the origins of this, the more I am convinced. However the categories that I have used in the past are out-of-date. The UNIFORMAT II designations are the way to go.

So having resolved these issues, at least provisionally, the first details should start appearing by early 2013.