The importance of the role played by User Requirement Specifications (URSs) cannot be stressed enough.  They provide a home for all the known requirements of all stakeholders and should be generated as a precursor to procurement of all facilities, utilities, equipment and operating systems.

Non-detailed Project URSs can provide master control over more detailed system level URSs, which, when compiled and issued as tender documents, can accommodate all the information necessary for prospective vendors to satisfy all the hardware, software and documentation requirements of the Quality, Production, Engineering and Maintenance departments.

There may be numerous ways in which to satisfy a particular business need, so a URS ought not to be unnecessarily restrictive.  Wherever possible, designers should be permitted to offer the most cost-effective and compliant solutions.  In cases where there is scope for interpretation, URSs should be accepted as iterative, becoming more prescriptive as the design is developed.