Specialties, Equipment, and Furnishings
What lives in these divisions
Division 10 covers specialties: toilet and bath accessories, fire extinguisher cabinets, signage, lockers, wall and corner protection, partitions. Division 11 covers equipment: commercial kitchen, laboratory casework, athletic and loading dock equipment. Division 12 covers furnishings: casework, window treatments, and furniture. Items may be furnished and installed by the contractor, furnished only, or supplied by the owner.
Coordination
Blocking and backing must be installed before drywall closes the wall. Rough-in dimensions for plumbing, electrical, and medical equipment must be verified against shop drawings and cut sheets. Mounting heights for accessible accessories and tactile signage follow the accessibility standards, including reach ranges and braille characters.
Submittals and handover
Product data, samples, mock-ups, and shop drawings control the outcome. Closeout requires operation and maintenance manuals, attic stock and spare parts, warranties, and owner training. Owner-furnished, contractor-installed items still require delivery, storage, protection, and installation coordination.
Traps
Forgetting blocking until after board is up; missing accessibility mounting heights; ignoring tactile and braille signage requirements; and assuming a furnish-only item needs no schedule coordination.
Rule of thumb: read the submittal and coordination articles of a specialty section before ordering - most specialty disputes begin with a submittal that was never made.