What are Specifications?
Manage pre-construction costs in one place. Specifications in Onetrace let you link technical details and pricing to specific locations, giving operatives and clients total clarity before work begins.
Capture specific details with attributes
Use attributes to track fine details and instructions—like emergency light units or specific switch types—so operatives can view them on-site or include them in reports. If you need these attribute fields for future projects, add them to your project templates. Please note that while you can add attribute fields to a template, you cannot include the actual specifications or their files.
Professional reporting made simple
Share technical documents in job sheets or location PDF reports. If you include one specification, the full file is embedded. For multiple specifications, Onetrace generates a clean list of links for easy access. To share Specification costing, you can generate a dedicated Excel report.
Specifications, materials and solutions: from pre-cost to final reporting
Because work varies by location, specifications are project-specific. Materials and solutions sit at the organisation level, so you can use them across every project.
| Specifications | Materials | Solutions |
Global availability | Each specification is unique to a location within a Project. | Available to add to any project from the library | Available to add to any project from the library |
Can be added to project templates | Only attributes | All or only selected | All or only selected |
Attachments | Multiple, managed in the specifications tab | Single, managed in the library | Single, managed in the library |
Per location | Single Attached to location | Multiple Material field added to the form | Multiple Solution field added to the form |
Pricing | Flat pricing, only quantity | Rate sets, tiered pricing & by usage | N/A |
Golden Thread (Work is traceable across the location lifecycle) | Used for pre-cost build-up, not compliance | If job sheets are continually added to the location | If job sheets are continually added to the location |
How do Specifications work on-site?
Stage one: pre-cost
There are two ways to use specifications for pre-build costing:
Site surveys: surveyors mark locations with specifications to guide installation or remediation teams.
Pre-dropped pins: if you have a client asset list, you can pre-drop pins on drawings or bulk update locations within the project.
💡 For efficient working between teams on site, we recommend using custom statuses, the to-do list, and form automations.
Stage two: record exact materials and measurements
Once the job starts, operatives record quantities on-site via job sheets. These sheets pull rates from your global library, using specification data to match quoted materials and measurements.
Stage three: prove compliance with solutions
As operatives complete work, they install materials from your library. Use solutions to ensure these installations meet manufacturer guidelines and industry standards. You can add multiple solutions per job sheet to support different installations.
💡 How to add Solutions to your library and to a project.