Introduction to Specifications in Fieldwire

Overview

Specifications are critical contractual documents on many projects. The Specifications tab in Fieldwire allows Project Admins to upload, organize, and manage specification files in one location. When you upload a specification book, Fieldwire automatically splits it into sections and versions, ensuring both field and office teams have the most up-to-date documentation.

Availability:

• Added automatically to projects created after July 26, 2022.
• Available on all subscription tiers (Basic, Pro, Business, Business Plus) and platforms (Web, iOS, Android).
• To enable Specifications for older projects or your entire account, contact support@fieldwire.com.

Table of Contents

• The Specifications Tab
• Uploading & Processing Specifications
  • Uploading Specifications
  • What happens during Processing
  • Review and confirm spec numbers, titles, and versions
• Department of Transportation (DOT) Specifications
  • What this means for your project
  • Supported DOT specifications
  • Uploading and reviewing DOT specs
  • Extracting submittals from DOT specs
• When Automatic Processing Doesn’t Work
  • Key Definitions
  • Document requirements
  • CSI (US)
  • CAWS (UK)
  • What Will Not Work
  • Common Issues & Fixes
  • Before You Upload
• Subdivide Specification Sections Manually
• Managing Specifications
  • Deleting Specifications
  • Deleting Specifications
  • Resolving Version Conflicts
  • Exporting Specifications
• Extract Submittals
  • How to Extract Submittals
• Search & View Specifications
  • Search Spec Sections by Number or Title
  • Search Key Words/Phrases in the Specification
  • Viewing Specifications
  • Markups
• Specifications on Mobile
  • iOS
  • Android

The Specifications Tab

Like many of the modules in Fieldwire, you can upload and export your documents from the Specifications tab. The functionality is very similar to uploading Plans in the Plans tab, with a few key differences:

1. The only supported file type is PDF.
2. The maximum file size is 200 MB.

The headers in this tab provide a high-level overview of the specifications on the project:

• #: The spec number, assigned by our system. We look for a 6-digit spec number and spec title based on CSI MasterFormat (US) or CAWS (UK).
• Title: The title of the specification. This is added when the spec is created and can be edited.
• Current Version: The date that the latest version of that spec section was uploaded.

Uploading & Processing Specifications

When you upload a specification book (specs), Fieldwire runs an automated process to identify sections, name them, and prepare them for use on your project. The overall flow is:

Upload → Processing → Review/Confirm → Split into sections → (optional) Resolve conflicts

Uploading Specifications

To upload your specifications:

1. Click + New specification (or the hyperlinked text, “Upload a new specification”).
2. Choose your upload source:
   • Click Select files to upload specifications directly from your computer, or
   • Click More upload options to upload specifications from Box, Google Drive, OneDrive, or OneDrive Business
3. Click Upload files.

If you accidentally upload the incorrect specification, and you have already gone through the review/confirmation process detailed in the next section, you can delete the specification as described in the section, Deleting specifications.

What happens during Processing

After upload, your file will enter a Processing state. During processing, Fieldwire:

1. Reads the text layer of the PDF (vector PDFs only).
2. Detects the format (CSI or CAWS), based on how headers are written.
3. Identifies valid section headers using the characters in the header and where that header appears on the page.
4. Determines section page ranges:
   • Start page = where a valid header is found.
   • End page = the page before the next valid header, or a page containing an end-of-section phrase such as “End of Section” or “End of Document”. If no end phrase exists, the section ends at the next header or at the end of the document.
5. Builds section names from the header (section number/code + title).
6. Creates draft sections so you can review them before Fieldwire splits the PDF.

Processing time: Most uploads finish within a few minutes.

• If your files remain in Processing for longer than 5 minutes, our processing queue may be backed up.
• If they remain in Processing for longer than 15 minutes, please contact support@fieldwire.com.

Review and confirm spec numbers, titles, and versions

Once processing completes, click Review (for a single upload) or Review all uploads (to review multiple uploads in sequence). You’ll see draft sections with proposed numbers, titles, and page ranges.

If your PDF follows CSI (US) or CAWS (UK):

If the formatting of your document conforms to either the CSI MasterFormat (widely used in the USA) or CAWS (predominantly used in the UK), Fieldwire will automatically detect sections and propose section numbers and titles.

• Fieldwire also uses the upload date as the Current Version by default.
• If the section header is missing a title (or if the title is unclear), you may see missing or incorrect titles in the review step. You can correct these before confirming.

If your file name already matches the spec format:

If the file name matches a [spec number] [spec title] pattern and the document is vector-based, Fieldwire may be able to automatically name and number the section with minimal confirmation required.

If the document does NOT follow CSI or CAWS:

If your document does not conform to CSI MasterFormat or CAWS, you can still upload it, but you’ll need to manually subdivide it into sections. See Subdivide Specification Sections Manually below.

If you would like automated subdivision to be supported for other formatting types in the future, please email support@fieldwire.com. 

Confirm and split

After you confirm your draft sections, Fieldwire will split the original PDF into one PDF per section and attach those sections to your project in the Specifications tab.

Display name format:

<Section Number> - <Title>

Examples:

• CSI: 05 40 00 - Cold-Formed Metal Framing
• CAWS: A12 - Walls, linings and partitions

Where the number comes from:

• CSI: From the section number in the header line on the first page.
• CAWS: From the code in the header/footer zone (e.g., A12, M60).

Where the title comes from:

• CSI:
  • From the same line after a hyphen (-).
  • If missing, we look at the next meaningful line on the page.
• CAWS:
  • From the same header line if present.
  • If the header line is only the code, we use the next line on that page as the title.

If two detected sections share the same number, we flag a conflict so you can decide whether to:

• Add the new file as a new version of the same section, or
• Adjust the number/title so it becomes a different section.

Note: If your spec book mixes CSI, CAWS, or another format in one PDF, automated splitting may be less reliable. In those cases, we recommend pre-splitting the PDF by format or section before uploading to Fieldwire.

Department of Transportation (DOT) Specifications

Fieldwire supports automatically processing and splitting Department of Transportation (DOT) specification books, in addition to CSI (US) and CAWS (UK) formats.

What this means for your project

If you upload a DOT-format specification book, Fieldwire can now:

• Automatically suggest how to split the spec book into individual sections
• Propose section numbers and titles for each DOT spec section
• Identify first and last page ranges for each section
• Send the results through the same review and confirmation workflow used for CSI and CAWS specs

This significantly reduces the manual effort required to upload DOT spec books.

Supported DOT specifications

Fieldwire supports DOT specifications from:

• All 50 U.S. state Departments of Transportation
• Federal DOT specifications, including FP-24 used on Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) projects and other federally funded infrastructure work (such as projects on national parks or federal lands)

Each state publishes and maintains its own DOT spec book, and all projects within that state typically reference the same set of specifications. Fieldwire’s spec detection is designed to handle these variations while following common DOT formatting patterns.

Uploading and reviewing DOT specs

Uploading DOT specs follows the same workflow as other specification formats:

1. Upload the DOT spec book in the Specifications tab.
2. Fieldwire automatically detects that the document uses a DOT format.
3. Suggested sections, numbers, titles, and page ranges are generated.
4. You review and confirm the results before Fieldwire splits the document into individual sections.

Note: Unlike some CSI uploads, DOT specs will always go through the review step. You’ll be asked to confirm the detected sections before they are finalized.

Extracting submittals from DOT specs

Fieldwire also supports extracting submittals from DOT specification sections, provided the document follows the same formatting rules required for submittals extraction in CSI specs.

For best results:

• Use a real heading named “SUBMITTALS” (for example, SUBMITTALS or 1.3 SUBMITTALS)
• Place submittal items as bullets or numbered lists directly under that heading
• Avoid burying submittals inside paragraphs or tables
• Ensure the PDF is a vector-based PDF with selectable text

If these conditions are met, DOT spec sections can be included when running Extract Submittals, just like CSI specs.

When Automatic Processing Doesn’t Work

Key Definitions

• Header: The single line that identifies a spec section. We read the text only, not font styling.
• Header zone / footer zone: The top or bottom ~20% of the page where true headers or running headers/footers usually live.
• Body zone: The middle ~60% of the page. For CAWS, a code that appears here does not start a section.
• End-of-section phrase: A line that clearly signals the end of a section, such as “End of Section” or “End of Document” (any casing, optional section number/title).
• Vector PDF: A PDF with a real text layer that you can select and copy. Scanned images or photos do not have this and will not work.
• CSI number formats we accept:
  • DD DD DD (e.g., 05 40 00)
  • DDDDDD (e.g., 084113)
  • DD DDDD (e.g., 05 4000)
  • Separators between digit pairs may be a space, hyphen, period, or underscore (e.g., 05-40-00, 05.40.00, 05_40_00).
• CAWS code format: One capital letter + two digits (e.g., A12, M60, Z20).

Document requirements:

Supported:

• Vector PDFs only: You must be able to highlight text in the PDF.
• Combined or single-section PDFs: You can upload a full spec book or a single section.
• Clear headers: Each section should start with a header that includes both the section number/code and title.

Not supported:

• Scanned images or photos (no selectable text).
• Specs that don’t follow CSI or CAWS-style formatting.
• Headings that are visually styled but not formatted correctly in the text layer (for example, a big bold line that looks like a header but has no section number).

CSI (US)

Headers We Accept (Examples):

• SECTION 05 40 00 - COLD-FORMED METAL FRAMING
• 05 40 00 - COLD-FORMED METAL FRAMING
• SECTION 084113 ALUMINUM-FRAMED ENTRANCES AND STOREFRONTS

Not valid:

• Title only, number missing.
• Number and title split across two lines (e.g., number on one line, title on the next).
• Header only in a repeating footer.

Valid CSI Header – Rules:

• Single line with the number first.
  • The section number must appear at the start of the line in one of the accepted shapes (e.g., 05 40 00, 084113, 05 4000; separators may be space, hyphen, period, or underscore).
• Title on the same line after a hyphen (-) is preferred.
  • If the title is missing, we still start the section, but the title may need manual review.
• Clean characters: digits are readable, spaces are real spaces, hyphen is a normal - (not an en dash).
• Placement near the top of the first page of the section (header zone).
• Not from the Table of Contents or a running footer.
• If two valid CSI headers appear on the same page, the first one closes the previous section and the next one starts a new section immediately.

Where Sections End (CSI):

• At the next valid CSI header, or
• At a line like “End of Section” or “End of Document”, or
• At the end of the document if no other header/end phrase is found.

CAWS (UK)

Headers We Accept (Examples):

• A12 - WALLS, LININGS AND PARTITIONS
• M60 - PAINTING AND CLEAR FINISHING
• Z20 - PREAMBLES FOR BUILDING WORK

Not valid:

• Title only, code missing.
• Code appearing only in the body area (middle of the page).
• A decorative footer that repeats the header text on every page.

Valid CAWS Header – Rules:

• A line with a single code (one capital letter + two digits, e.g., A12) in the header or footer zone (top or bottom ~20% of the page).
• The line may include a hyphen and title, e.g., A12 - Walls, linings and partitions.
• If the line shows only the code (e.g., A12), we treat the next text line on that page as the title.
• The code and title can appear in a running header, e.g., Project XYZ / A12 - Walls, linings and partitions, as long as it’s in the header/footer zone.
• Clean characters: avoid merged glyphs or en dashes.
• Not from the Table of Contents.
• Repeated footers do not start new sections. If the same code appears in the footer across pages, those pages are part of the same section.
• If two valid CAWS headers appear on one page, the first closes the previous section and the second starts the next.

Where Sections End (CAWS):

• At the next valid CAWS header, or
• At an “End of Section” line (any casing), or
• At the end of the document if no other header/end phrase is found.

What Will Not Work:

• Scanned images or photos (no selectable text).
• Spec books that do not follow CSI or CAWS-like formatting.
• Headings styled visually but not present as clean header lines in the text layer.
• Relying only on a Table of Contents: even a perfect-looking TOC will not trigger splitting. Fieldwire needs real headers on the first page of each section.

Quick Test:

1. Open the PDF and try to highlight the header line.
2. Copy just that line into a plain text editor.
   1. If extra characters come along, digits or hyphens look wrong, or the line doesn’t include the section number/code, it’s not a clean header for our extractor.

How to Fix:

1. Put the number/code and title on one line at the top of the first page of the section.
   • CSI: 05 40 00 - Cold-Formed Metal Framing
   • CAWS: A12 - Walls, linings and partitions (in the header area).
2. Avoid putting header-like lines in footers.

Common Issues & Fixes

• No sections found
  • Cause: Likely a scanned PDF or an export without a proper text layer.
  • Fix: Ask for the original/native PDF export and re-upload.
• Only some sections found
  • Cause: Some headers don’t match CSI or CAWS closely enough, or number and title are not on the same line.
  • Fix: Make sure each section’s first page has a single header line with both number/code and title.
• Wrong page ranges
  • Cause: The header line is too low on the page or appears in a footer.
  • Fix: Move the header to the top of the page and remove header-like lines from footers.
• Names wrong or missing
  • Cause: The title is on the next line or next page.
  • Fix: Keep number/code and title on one line whenever possible.
• Table of Contents looks perfect but nothing split
  • Cause: We do not split from the Table of Contents.
  • Fix: Ensure each section’s actual first page has a proper header line.
• Submittals not detected
  • Cause: No true heading named “SUBMITTALS”, or items are buried inside tables or paragraphs.
  • Fix: Add a clear heading like 1.3 SUBMITTALS and place bullet/numbered items directly under it.

Before You Upload

Run this quick self-check:

1. Can you highlight the text in the PDF? If no, the file will not work.
2. Does each section’s first page show a clear header line with number/code and title that matches CSI or CAWS?
3. For submittals extraction:
   1. Does the section have a real heading or subheading named “SUBMITTALS” (e.g., 1.3 SUBMITTALS)?
   2. If there is PART numbering, that heading should usually live under PART 1 GENERAL (or PART 2 if needed).
4. Is the header line at the top of the page, not repeated as a footer?
5. Are you avoiding fancy font tricks that merge digits or dashes?

Subdivide Specification Sections Manually

Specifications that do not correspond to CSI MasterFormat or CAWS can be manually divided into different sections.

To manually subdivide a specification:

1. Click the blue + New specification button.
2. Select the source from which you want to upload the specification.
3. Upload the file and wait for it to finish processing.
4. Click Review.
5. Click the single section that was automatically created for the entire document.
6. Assign a number and a title, and define which pages belong in this section.
7. Click Save.
8. Click + New section for each additional section you want to create:
   • Enter the section number
   • Enter the section title
   • Define the page range (“from” and “until”)
9. Click Save for each new section.
10. Complete the process by clicking Confirm all sections.

Managing Specifications

Deleting Specifications

Only Project Admins can delete specifications.

Note: Once deleted, a specification cannot be recovered from the Trash tab.(see "What is the Trash Tab?" for further details).

You can delete Specifications in three ways:

1. Immediately after upload
   1. Instead of clicking Review, click Delete.
2. From the kebab menu (⋮)
   1. Click the ⋮ on the right side of a specification.
   2. Select Delete.
3. Bulk delete
   1. Select the checkboxes next to multiple specs.
   2. Click Actions > Delete.
   3. Confirm in the pop-up dialog.

Resolving Version Conflicts

Like the Plans Version Control module, you can upload updated versions of a spec book.

If you upload a spec with the same section number as an existing one, Fieldwire triggers a Version Conflict. This ensures that:

• The new file is truly a new version of an existing section, and
• You don’t accidentally overwrite an unrelated section.

You’ll see a red warning when conflicts exist.

To resolve conflicts:

1. Click Review individually or Resolve all:
   • Review individually: Compare each new vs existing section.
   • Resolve all: Accept all detected matches as new versions in one step.
     • Note: The Resolve all action cannot be undone and you won’t be able to review each conflict one by one afterward.
2. When reviewing individually, you’ll see:
   1. The existing spec section (number, title, version).
   2. The newly uploaded spec.
   3. A preview to identify where the conflict arises.
3. Choose Add as new version to slip-sheet the new document on top of the existing spec.
   1. You’ll then be able to jump between versions by date.

If the new upload is not actually a new version:

• Change the section number so it doesn’t match the existing sheet, then Confirm as a unique spec.

If you choose to Review Individually, a new screen will appear displaying the new and existing sheets and the spec numbers, titles, etc. of each. Here you can view the newly updated Spec document to locate where the conflict is coming from.  

Exporting Specifications

Once specifications are uploaded and processed, Admins, Members, and Followers can export them as PDFs.

• Note: Only Project Admins will see the Delete option.

To batch export specifications:

1. Click the checkbox next to each spec you want to export, or use Actions > Select all.
2. From the Actions dropdown, choose Export specifications.

To export a single spec:

• Click the ⋮ menu on the right side of the spec and choose Export.

Extract Submittals

After your specifications finish processing, you can extract Submittals from them into a CSV file (see The Submittals Workflow in Fieldwire for a full overview). This file can then be imported into the Submittals tab as a Submittal Log.

How extraction works (conceptually):

• Fieldwire looks for a real heading named “SUBMITTALS” in the text layer.
• If your spec uses PART numbering:
  • We search under PART 1 GENERAL first (where submittals usually live).
  • If nothing is found, we then search under PART 2.
• If the spec doesn’t use PART numbering, we scan the entire section.
• We then collect the bulleted or numbered items directly under that SUBMITTALS heading, one level deeper, until the next heading at the same or higher level.

Tips for success:

• Use a real heading named “SUBMITTALS”, e.g., 1.3 SUBMITTALS or simply SUBMITTALS.
• Place submittal items as bullets or numbered lists directly under that heading, not buried in long paragraphs or tables.
• Inline sentences like “Provide submittals per Section 01 33 00” do not count as submittal items.
• If more than one SUBMITTALS heading appears at the same level, Fieldwire merges their item lists in order.
• Ensure the PDF is a vector export with a clean text layer. Tables that don’t extract as text may not be picked up.

How to Extract Submittals

1. In the Specifications tab, click the checkbox next to each spec you want to extract submittals from.
   • To select all specs, click the checkbox next to the “#” column header.
2. Click the Extract submittals button.
3. In the pop-up, click Extract to confirm.
   • This process can take up to 1 hour to complete.

When the extraction is complete:

• You’ll receive an email with:
  • A link to download the CSV, and
  • The names of any sections that did not contain submittals.

The downloadable spreadsheet contains columns such as:

• Specification Section
• Name
• Type
• Description

If you have access to the Submittals tab, you can then import this spreadsheet as a new Submittal Log:

Search & View Specifications

Search Spec Sections by Number or Title

To quickly locate a specific spec section:

1. Go to the Specifications tab.
2. Use the search bar to search by Number (#) or Title.

Note: If your spec numbers include spaces, dashes, or other special characters, you’ll need to include those in your search for accurate results.

Search Key Words/Phrases in the Specification

To search within a specification:

1. Click on the specification to open it.
2. Click the magnifying glass icon in the upper-right corner to open the search bar.
3. Enter your keyword or phrase.
   • All matches will be highlighted in yellow in the document and listed on the right-hand side under the search bar.

Step 3:

Viewing Specifications

After you’ve split your files and resolved any version conflicts:

• Click on a specification to view it.
• Click the version date in the lower left-hand corner to access current and older versions.
• Older versions will show a large red watermark labeled “Old version” across the document.

Old version:

Markups

On the web, you can view and create markups on specifications.

• Use the top toolbar to add annotations, shapes, or signatures:

Permissions:

• Project Admins can edit, comment on, delete, and link markups on specifications created by any user:

• Project Members can edit and delete only their own markups, but can comment on and link markups created by others:

• Followers cannot edit, comment, link, or delete markups.

Specifications on Mobile

Once you’ve uploaded specifications on the web, you can view and markup them on iOS and Android.

Note: You cannot upload specs or view plan links to specs on mobile. Those actions are web-only.

iOS:

• Navigate to the Specifications tab.

• Tap the three dots in the upper-right corner to add markups.

• A markup page will open with tools similar to those in the Files tab:

Android:

• Navigate to the Specifications tab.

• Tap the pencil icon in the upper-right corner to add markups.

A markup page will open with the same options as in the Files tab.

More information

• The Photos tab
• Introduction to the Forms Tab
• The Files tab
• Private Markups
• The Submittals Workflow in Fieldwire

Specifications & Submittal Extractor