NYA
DefinitionUpdated July 31, 20262 min read

Spec sheet: the record that makes an order reproducible

A specification sheet is the complete, orderable record of one item — manufacturer, model, finish codes, dimensions, COM, freight and location. What it must contain so a purchase order can be raised without a phone call.

By Idan Mann, founder of NYA

The short answer

A specification sheet is the complete record of one specified item: manufacturer, model number, finish and fabric codes, dimensions, quantity, COM requirements, lead time, freight terms and the room it is destined for. It is written so that a purchase order can be raised from it without anyone having to ask a question.

The test of a specification is whether someone who has never spoken to you could order from it. Not "the walnut one" — the finish code. Not "the large size" — the dimensions and the model number that produces them. Every ambiguity left in a spec becomes a phone call, and every phone call is a place where a wrong item enters production.

The fields a spec sheet has to carry

  • Manufacturer, collection and model number, including the variant suffix that encodes size or configuration.
  • Finish, fabric and trim codes exactly as the vendor writes them — plus the grade, and COM yardage where it applies.
  • Dimensions as specified, so a substitution can be checked against the plan without re-measuring.
  • Quantity and the room it belongs to, which is what becomes the sidemark.
  • Price: net cost, your markup and the client price, kept in the record even if only one of them appears on the client's copy.
  • Lead time and freight terms, because they set the install date and decide who owns the goods in transit.
One record, several documents. The same item should produce a tearsheet for the client, a line on the proposal, a purchase order for the vendor and a row on the finish schedule — without anyone retyping a model number. Retyping is where errors are born.
There is a free specification sheet template with every field above, laid out to fill in — CSV, no email.

Common questions

What is the difference between a spec sheet and a schedule?
A spec sheet describes one item completely. A schedule lists many items in a table, keyed by room or by mark, so that a contractor can see everything that applies to a space at once. You need both: the schedule for coordination, the spec for ordering.
Who writes the specification — the designer or the vendor?
The designer writes it; the vendor's acknowledgement confirms it. Treat the acknowledgement as a proofreading task rather than a formality, because it is the last moment a wrong finish code is free to correct.

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