Architectural Specifications Consultants
Specification integrity, opening by opening.
More than 35 years writing door hardware specifications. Every line traces to a standard, a code requirement, or a decision someone owns.
For architects and design teams
Hardware specifications written to survive review.
Division 08 primarily, Division 10 alongside, and Division 28 coordination where openings meet security and electrical systems. Independent by design, so every product recommendation can go to competitive bid.
For manufacturers
Guide specs your reps can hand to a specifier.
ASC writes guide specifications and offers them openly to all manufacturers. Guiding the Spec is the service, and the desk stays open.
The practice
One of the oldest door hardware specification practices in the nation.
Architectural Specifications Consultants (ASC) has spent more than 35 years at one desk: openings. Hinges, locksets, exit devices, closers, thresholds, seals, and the coordination that holds them together. The practice is independent, with no factory-direct ties, which means product recommendations answer to the project and go to competitive bid.
Every specification is written in house, and design teams work directly with the practice.
What holds up
Six things clients count on.
Specification integrity.
Every line traces to a standard, a code requirement, or a decision someone owns. Nothing sits in a spec because it sat in the last one.
Independent by design.
No factory-direct ties. Recommendations go to competitive bid.
Product knowledge.
ASC knows the current product inventory as well as anyone writing today, across manufacturers and across price tiers.
Sustainability forward.
Durability, life-cycle performance, documented environmental claims, and provable LEED credits, named specifically.
Proven on elite work.
Healthcare, universities, laboratories, civic and cultural buildings, and commercial towers, from greater Boston to projects worldwide.
Built for firms of every size.
A two-person studio and a national practice get the same desk.
Proven on elite work
Where the specifications go.
Healthcare.
Infection control surfaces, fire and smoke barrier coordination, patient safety hardware, and the department-by-department access control conversation.
Universities and education.
Residence hall keying, classroom security functions, high-cycle traffic, and hardware that has to survive a campus.
Laboratories and research.
Containment thresholds, interlocks, controlled access, and coordination with facility systems.
Civic and cultural.
Long service life, public egress loads, historic frame conditions, and finishes that carry a building's character.
Commercial towers.
Stair pressurization and egress hardware, tenant floor keying hierarchies, and elevator lobby coordination.
Sustainability forward
Durability is the first environmental claim.
A lockset that lasts thirty years and a lockset replaced twice in ten have very different footprints. ASC specifies for life-cycle performance and documents the claims that follow.
Durability and cycle life.
Cycle counts and grade levels chosen for the traffic the opening will actually see, so the hardware is still working at year twenty.
Life-cycle performance.
Maintenance, parts availability, and rekeying paths considered at specification time rather than at year five.
Documented environmental claims.
EPDs, HPDs, and Declare labels named in the specification where a manufacturer has them, so the submittal carries evidence.
Provable LEED credits.
Credit pathways identified by number and requirement, with the documentation a project team needs to make the claim stand.
Advising the best architectural products for every project.
Common questions
Questions the desk gets
What does a door hardware specification consultant do?
A hardware specification consultant writes the Division 08 hardware sections of a project manual, building hardware sets opening by opening against the door schedule. The work covers code and accessibility requirements, fire rating coordination, keying, and submittal review during construction. ASC has done this work for more than 35 years.
What is the difference between Division 08 and Division 28 on a project?
Division 08 covers openings: doors, frames, and door hardware. Division 28 covers electronic safety and security, including access control. Electrified hardware sits between them, which is why the two divisions have to be coordinated rather than written in isolation.
Does ASC write guide specifications for manufacturers?
Yes. ASC writes guide specs and offers the service openly to all manufacturers. The documents are built in CSI three-part format with performance language tied to test standards.
What does an independent specification practice mean?
ASC has no factory-direct ties. Product recommendations answer to the project rather than to a manufacturer relationship, which means the specification can go to competitive bid.
Start here
Bring the openings to the desk.
Send the drawings, the schedule, or the question. ASC will tell you what the specification needs.