The Ohio State University recognized that their existing building design standards (BDS) were outdated and not adequately serving the needs of the university. The BDS is used by university design and maintenance staff, as well as those architects and engineers retained on all construction projects. The BDS provide consistent, economical, and safety based guidelines that have been peer reviewed by university stakeholders. The university typical makes minor revisions to the BDS on a semi-annual basis with large scale changes made every 5 to 10 years.

 

Osborn Engineering was retained by the university and responsible for a large scale comprehensive review of the BDS. The scope included review of BDS sections that align with MasterSpec including Divisions 00 through 15, and also Divisions 21 through 32. The review included incorporation of best industry practices, updating text based on latest code provisions, and incorporation of recommendations from local peer organizations. These peer groups included contractors and design professionals that often work on projects for the university. We also reviewed the building design standards of peer universities of similar size to adopt relevant information for incorporation into Ohio State’s standards. All recommended BDS revisions were thoroughly reviewed with university stakeholders to ensure they were in agreement with any proposed modifications.

 

The University stipulated that it was vital that the BDS information be user friendly to ensure that these guidelines are adhered to on all projects. The PDF was organized with hyperlinks and bookmarks to provide quick access to pertinent information within the overall large volume of text. The PDF file format allows the university to readily share the BDS with design professionals and contractors on all future projects.