A service specification is a document that quantifies the minimum acceptable (technical) standard of service required by the customer and will generally form a part of the contract with the service provider. The production of the service specification is a prerequisite in the negotiation and drafting of SLAs and should set out the following.
- Internal standards, relating to corporate or department policy as well as those that have been adopted on previous contracts.
- External standards, covering conformance to statutory requirements, International Standards, health and safety legislation, industry standards and manufacturers’ recommendations.
- Procedures the service provider has to comply with in order to achieve the required technical standards.
- Quality and performance targets.
The extent of detail in the specification will depend on the importance and complexity of the service or asset item. The following is an example outline of sections and contents.
Part 1. Terminology
1.1 Definition of terms
Part 2. Areas, items and services
2.1 Scope of areas, items and services covered by specification
Part 3. External standards
3.1 Legal/regulatory requirements
3.2 Manufacturers’ recommendations
3.3 Industry accepted best practice
Part 4. Internal standards
4.1 Corporate/departmental requirements
4.2 Established standards/codes
Part 5. Categorisation of areas, items and services
5.1 Procedures for each category
5.2 Frequency of procedures for each category
In the case of a cleaning contract, for example, the specification could describe the standard of cleanliness to be achieved in terms of the maximum amount of dust or debris which is permitted to remain following cleaning. Another example would be a service specification for cleaning, showing, first, prescriptive specifications and, second, performance requirements.
Reference
The Facilities Society (2014). SLAs and service specifications.
