Start with what the issued Section 03 23 00 leaves to the drawings: confirm that the structural drawings say whether each tendon is bonded or unbonded and give the strand, wire, or bar size, the tendon profiles, the fixed and stressing ends, the couplers, the final force after seating, and the concrete strength required before stressing. Then check that the section has been edited to the tendon system drawn, that ducts, sheathing, coating, encapsulation, and grout class suit the exposure, that profiles clear openings and embeds, that stressing ends have room for the jack, and that the pocket patch and the stressing records are defined.
Assemble the review package
Gather the structural general notes with concrete strength, strength at stressing, exposure, and cover, the post-tensioning plans with tendon layout, bundles, profiles, high and low points, and fixed and stressing ends, the beam and girder elevations with duct profiles, vents, and grout openings, the anchorage, pocket, and slab edge details, the reinforcement drawings with anchorage zone bars and chairs, the architectural and MEP plans with slab openings, sleeves, embeds, and conduits in the post-tensioned slabs, the plans of adjacent buildings or walls at stressing edges, the design analysis with the exposure to deicing salts, seawater, or wet and dry cycles, and the issued Section 03 23 00 with Sections 03 30 00, 01 33 00, and the project’s special inspection section. Follow one tendon from its fixed end through its profile to the stressing pocket before assuming the others match.
WBDG publishes UFGS 03 23 00: Stressed Tendon Reinforcing as a public guide-specification reference (accessed November 12, 2026). Use your project’s issued specification and amendments for the actual comparison; the guide specification does not automatically govern your project. The checklist below is an original suggested review workflow, not a reproduction of the UFGS requirements.
Eight checks to run against the issued set
Use one record per location or system. The CSV contains the same eight prompts plus fields for source revisions, observed evidence, the review owner, the decision, and closure references.
| Check | Sources to compare | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| What the drawings must show | Stressing Tendons paragraphs (strand diameter as indicated; wire diameter as shown) + Tensioning Tendons (tension as specified and indicated; final prestress load after seating as indicated; strength at transfer blank) and note (initial force allowing for prestress losses under a cited section of ACI 318) + Anchorages (fixed and stressing ends as on the approved installation drawings) + Installation Drawings submittal (type, size, profiles, erection, stressing sequence, and calculations) + structural notes and post-tensioning plans | Do the structural drawings give each tendon’s type, size, profile, fixed and stressing ends, and final force after seating, so the installation drawings can be checked against them, is the concrete strength required before stressing filled in and the same as the value in the general notes, does the ACI 318 section the note cites for prestress losses match the edition the project uses, and is it clear who prepares the stressing calculations the installation drawings must carry? |
| Bonded or unbonded, and the section edited to match | Paragraph notes (Ducts and Grout for bonded tendons; Tendon Sheathing and Tendon Coating for unbonded tendons; Encapsulation System for unbonded tendons in aggressive exposures; Stressing Tendons and Ducts for Grouted Post-Tensioned Systems for bonded only) + bracketed Bonded Tendons qualifications + unbracketed Unbonded Tendons qualifications, PTI Certified Plants (unbonded single-strand plant certification), and the unbonded support interval in Installation + structural notes and tendon schedule | Does the issued section keep only the paragraphs for the tendon systems the drawings show, and where the project uses bonded tendons only, have the unbonded installer qualifications, the single-strand plant certification, and the unbonded support interval been edited out, since they are not bracketed, or where both systems are used, does each tendon on the plans say which one it is? |
| Tendon steel and assemblies | Seven-Wire Stress-Relieved Strand paragraph (cites ASTM A416/A416M, which the References article titles as low-relaxation strand; grade bracket; field assembly for bonded tendons only) + Stress-Relieved Wire (types BA and WA; shop assembled) + Stressing Tendons and Ducts for Grouted Systems (strand, wire, and bar tendons shop or field assembled; WA wire only with wedge anchorages; splicing limits) + High-Strength Steel Bars + bar couplers + general notes | Does the strand grade kept match the grade the structural notes use in the design, and since the paragraph title says stress-relieved strand while the standard it cites is for low-relaxation strand, has the specifier stated which strand is intended, where wire tendons are used, may wire assemblies be field assembled, since one paragraph says shop only and the other shop or field, and are bar couplers shown where the drawings rely on them? |
| Ducts, sheathing, coating, and corrosion protection | Ducts (galvanized sheet steel or plastic; size relative to the tendon; watertight fittings) + Installation support spacing (names steel pipes and flat ducts) + Tendon Sheathing bracket (watertight encapsulation or a non-encapsulated system) + Tendon Coating bracket by strand diameter + Encapsulation System (wedge-cavity caps, sleeves) + Installation bracket (protection level under PTI M50.3) and note + design analysis exposure | Does the duct material on the beam and girder details match the materials the Ducts paragraph allows, and if steel pipe or flat ducts are drawn, has the specifier added them, since only the installation paragraph mentions them, where slabs or beams face deicing salts, seawater, or wet and dry cycles, are the encapsulated sheathing option and the encapsulation system kept, does the coating bracket match the strand diameter drawn, and is a protection level chosen for grouted tendons? |
| Profiles, supports, bundles, and openings | Installation article (lateral deviations around openings, ducts, and embedded items with a minimum curvature; bundle limit bracket; spacing between bundles; no welding near tendons; unbonded support interval) + Stressing Tendons and Ducts for Grouted Systems (duct support spacing by duct type, with flat ducts with strand preinstalled given two spacings; vents and grout openings anchored) + Nonprestressed Steel Bars (Section 03 30 00; coordinate placement) + tendon profiles, slab openings, sleeves, and embeds | Do the post-tensioning plans route tendons around every slab opening, sleeve, and embed drawn by the architect and the MEP engineers with the curvature the section requires, is the bundle limit filled in and matched to the bundles drawn, do the chair heights and supports on the profiles follow the spacing for the duct type used, since the flat duct sentence states two spacings for the same condition, and is late welding near tendons, such as embed plates or deck edge angles, scheduled before the tendons go in? |
| Anchorages, stressing access, pockets, and finishing | Anchorages article (normal to the tendon axis; fixed and stressing ends not switched; positive anchorages at embedded ends; corrosion protection; recessed wire anchorages) + Anchorages and Couplers + Pocket Formers (cover of the anchorage; access to cut the tail) + Tendon Finishing (tails cut after records are approved; pocket patched with “patch material” no article specifies) + slab edge and anchorage details + adjacent construction | Do the slab edge and beam end details show anchorage zone reinforcement and pocket cover consistent with the pocket formers, is there room for the jack at every stressing end, including edges against existing buildings, walls, or columns, are intermediate stressing points and couplers detailed where the pour sequence needs them, and has the specifier named the pocket patch material, since the section requires a patch but specifies no product? |
| Stressing, measurement, and records | Prestressing Method and Equipment submittal (jacks, gauges, load cells; calibration records) + Tensioning Tendons (elongation and force measured independently and reconciled with theoretical values) + Post-Tensioning (no stressing before the transfer strength) + Stress Measurement and Elongation Measurement accuracy + Prestressing Operations Records (design and actual loads; theoretical and actual elongations) + Materials Disposition Records + special inspection section | Do the structural drawings or the installation drawings give the theoretical elongations and jacking forces that the field readings are reconciled against, is the stressing sequence on the installation drawings consistent with the pour breaks and construction joints on the structural plans, and does the project’s special inspection section assign the inspection of tendon placement, stressing, and grouting the records describe? |
| Grout and grouting for bonded tendons | Grout paragraph (PTI M55.1 class bracket; cube strength by ASTM C109/C109M) and note (classes by exposure; Class D properties specified by the engineer) + Grouting Post-Tensioned Tendons (written procedures for approval; timing after stressing; cold weather limit; no loads for a period after grouting) + SD-02 Procedures for Grouting Operations (no G) + Bonded Tendons crew certifications + duct profiles with vents and grout openings | Does the grout class kept suit the exposure in the design analysis, and where Class D is chosen, has the engineer stated its properties, since the bracket has no place for them, do the duct profiles show the inlets, vents at high points, and outlets the grouting procedure needs, should the grouting procedures carry a G, since the paragraph says they are submitted for approval, and does the construction sequence allow the loading pause after grouting before shoring is removed or equipment is placed? |
Worked example: a parking deck with bonded girders, unbonded slabs, and a stressing edge against an existing wall
Illustrative example: a two-level parking structure at an installation in a deicing-salt region uses unbonded single-strand tendons in the slabs and bonded multi-strand tendons in flat ducts in the transfer girders. One slab edge abuts an existing retaining wall. The issued Section 03 23 00 keeps Class A grout, the non-encapsulated sheathing option, and no encapsulation system, and it leaves the bundle limit and the strength at transfer blank. The girder details show flat ducts with strand preinstalled but no vents at the high points, the post-tensioning plan puts stressing ends on the slab edge against the wall with no jacking clearance, and the slab plans show new floor drains and conduit sleeves that the tendon layout does not route around. The pocket detail says “patch per spec”.
Ask the structural engineer to move the stressing ends to the open edge or add intermediate stressing pockets, to route tendons around the drains and sleeves, to add vents and grout openings to the girder profiles, and to state the strength at stressing in the general notes. Ask the specifier to keep the encapsulated sheathing and the encapsulation system for the exposed slabs, to choose a grout class suited to deicing salts, to fill in the bundle limit, to resolve the two flat duct support spacings, to name the pocket patch material, and to confirm the strand type intended, and check that the special inspection section covers stressing and grouting.
Avoid a false conflict
Section 03 23 00 covers tendons and accessories for post-tensioned concrete. The nonprestressed bars and the concrete follow Section 03 30 00 and the concrete guide, plant-pretensioned precast members follow Section 03 45 33 and the precast structural concrete guide, prestressed and post-tensioned piles follow their pile sections, ground anchors follow Section 31 68 13 and the soil and rock anchor guide, and inspection follows the project’s special inspection section, so check those before calling a requirement missing. Some of the section’s own wording needs resolving: the strand paragraph title and its cited standard describe different strand, the wire paragraph and the installation paragraph disagree on field assembly, the installation paragraph names duct types the Ducts paragraph does not offer and gives one flat duct condition two support spacings, Class D grout has no place for its properties, the grouting procedures are submitted for approval without a G, the pocket patch material is not specified, and the unbonded qualification, plant, and support requirements are not bracketed for bonded-only work. Ask the specifier which wording the project intends before treating a difference as a design conflict.
When requirements disagree, follow the project’s document-control and clarification process. Do not assume that drawings always override specifications, or the reverse. Identify the exact sources and request an authorized decision.
Close the issue across the affected documents
Record the location or tag, drawing and specification references, issue dates, observed difference, and the decision needed. Assign an owner and keep the item open until the response identifies the governing requirement. Check the revised drawings and specification references together; a response email alone may leave the issued package inconsistent.
For the overall process, use the guide to drawing and specification conflicts. Mark an inapplicable checklist row with a reason, and distinguish a verified correction from a question that still needs design information.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook’s drawing and specification review helps investigate potential disagreements in the documents you supply. Include the relevant specification sections and drawing references, then verify the cited evidence with the responsible reviewers before acting on a finding.