Björn Vrooman Nov 27, 2016:

@Wendy And how would you translate any of these sentences Carolin gave as examples?

"specify" here just means make your products attractive enough to be chosen by an architect:
"Get Specified: 4 Fast Steps to Help You Get Selected by Architects"
http://architizer.com/blog/4-fast-steps-to-help-you-get-spec...

A simple "auswählen" or "in die Ausschreibungsunterlagen/Leistungsbeschreibung übernehmen" would do.

Wendy Streitparth Nov 27, 2016:

@ Björn: ich finde hier festlegen oder festschreiben am besten.

Björn Vrooman Nov 27, 2016:

Produktneutralität Ah, here I got something:
"Um die Festlegung von Produkten in den Vergabeunterlagen, in diesem Fall die Hersteller- und Fabrikatsangabe für einen Außenputz mit 'Glimmereffekt'.
Ausgangspunkt ist der Grundsatz der produktneutralen Ausschreibung, wie er in § 7 Abs. 8 (EG) VOB/A bzw. § 8 Abs. 7 EG VOL/A enthalten ist. In diesen Entscheidungen hatte es das OLG Düsseldorf zugelassen, dass der öffentliche Auftraggeber in den Vergabeunterlagen ein bestimmtes Produkt festschreibt. [...]Im Gegensatz dazu steht z. B. die Entscheidung des OLG München (vgl. Pfarr), in der das OLG es umgekehrt einem Bieter durchgehen ließ, nicht nur ein anderes Produkt anzubieten, als in der (unzulässig produktspezifischen) Ausschreibung vorgeschrieben, sondern auch mit dem geänderten Produkt systembedingte Änderungen am Ausschreibungsinhalt vorzunehmen."
http://www.vergabeblog.de/2013-05-22/das-ende-der-produktneu...

See "Fazit" at the end.

Björn Vrooman Nov 27, 2016:

Edit I scrapped two entries (sorry about that) because something seemed off here. Did you read the sentence at the beginning of the question?

"When you sell a solution in the building industry, you try to influence the architect and consulting engineer to specify (foreskrive på dansk) your product."

I think "ausschreiben" would still be wrong here, but the main thing is that it's about someone trying to get their product sold.

"But despite value engineering and substitution trends from general contractors, architects and designers still influence 90 percent of commercial building product dollars, so failing to invest in reaching this group is a huge mistake."
https://www.pointtopoint.com/ideas/where-to-start-to-get-spe...

However, you're bound to "Produktneutralität" in "Ausschreibungen" (public tenders, ofc) themselves:
https://www.vergabe24.de/wissen/tipps-und-hilfe/vergabelexik...

Cf.
http://www.bauprofessor.de/Technische Spezifikationen (TS)/7...
https://www.vergabe24.de/wissen/tipps-und-hilfe/vergabelexik...

Björn Vrooman Nov 27, 2016:

@Carolin and others I've done a lot of translations of construction industry documents and the explanation is a bit confusing.

Both answers don't seem right to me, especially because someone has yet to explain "getting specified" to Carolin.

"When we start to work on a project and the design is to a certain point, we begin to think about the materials and the products that we want to use. We look for what specific products fit the vision for the design.
We may contact a sales rep that we’re comfortable with, let them know what we’re looking for and ask them what they have that might be a good fit. We also do online research and turn to Google like everyone else."
https://www.pointtopoint.com/ideas/how-to-get-specified-by-a...

"The decision to specify a product is based on many factors, some of them conflicting. The overriding concern is that it is fit for purpose, performing its role effectively and throughout the design life of the building. Products are selected because of more than their performance or price."
http://www.cadvantage.co.uk/managing-your-specification-stra...

Steffen Walter Nov 24, 2016:

Das hatte ich ja ... ... so ähnlich vorgeschlagen: "(in der Ausschreibung) vorgeben" (ich würde nicht zwei Mal "-schreibung/-schreiben" verwenden).

Wendy Streitparth Nov 24, 2016:

Warum nicht einfach "in der Ausschreibung vorschreiben"? (wie im Dänischen)