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Product information checklist for building product suppliers

This checklist covers what a building product supplier’s website should give two different buyers: the architect or specifier who writes your product into a project, and the plant buyer and production staff who order it and use it. Tick what your site already has, and the rest becomes your list of what to add first.

Published by Old Plank Group. Reviewed .

How to use it

It is written for companies that sell into precast plants, such as makers of thin brick, formliners, admixtures, inserts, reinforcing, sealants, coatings and plant equipment, and it works for other building product suppliers too.

  1. Pick one product and open its page on your own site, once on a phone and once on a computer.
  2. Tick an item only if a stranger could find it there without signing in or calling you.
  3. If an item does not fit your product, such as BIM objects for an admixture, tick it so it leaves your list.
  4. Read What to add first and print it. With JavaScript off, print this page and tick the boxes by hand.

Nothing you tick is sent or saved. Reloading or closing the page clears it.

Section A

Architects and specifiers

AIA’s page for its 2026 report says architects “remain central to product and material specification” (AIA 2026). In AIA’s 2023 survey, 79% of architects said they use manufacturer websites to keep up with products, “since they want quick, easy access to information” (AIA 2023, p. 16). The same report found manufacturers “still falling short in their websites” on ease of navigation and on the information available online (AIA 2023, p. 32).

The number after each item is the order we would add it in, in our experience: what lets a buyer find the product and reach you first, then what each buyer needs to decide, then what saves time later.

  • Over half of the architects surveyed seek technical descriptions and product specs when selecting a product on a typical project (AIA 2023, p. 20). In our experience they compare values on screen and copy them into their documents, which is slow from a PDF on a phone.

    Order 4

  • CSI calls MasterFormat “the construction industry’s shared and standardized language for project documentation” (CSI). In our experience the section number tells a spec writer where your product goes in the project manual.

    Order 19

  • In our experience a spec writer edits your section into the project manual. An editable file saves retyping, and the errors retyping brings.

    Order 9

  • More than half of the architects surveyed value BIM objects from manufacturers, and BIM object availability had the lowest satisfaction score in the report (AIA 2023, pp. 28, 32).

    Order 22

  • In our experience architects narrow a choice by eye before they read the data. A photo that matches the product saves a round of samples.

    Order 11

  • In our experience an architect wants to see the product at full scale on a finished building before proposing it to a client.

    Order 20

  • The 2023 report saw room for manufacturers to help architects with code compliance (AIA 2023, p. 32). In our experience a test report that names the standard saves the architect a call.

    Order 17

  • AIA reports that architects who proactively recommend or integrate sustainability options rose from 58% in 2020 to 79% in 2025, and that 72% prefer U.S.-manufactured products (AIA 2026 press release). An EPD reports how a product affects the environment over its life (AIA). An HPD reports a product’s contents and associated health information (HPD Collaborative).

    Order 21

  • For architects at in-person events, “the most important activity is to see and feel products” (AIA 2023, p. 7). In our experience a sample request on the product page does the same job online.

    Order 13

  • Architects most need manufacturers to have “responsive reps and a website that is easy to navigate” (AIA 2023, p. 28).

    Order 6

  • Respondents in architect roles were significantly less satisfied with how manufacturers keep the information they need up to date (AIA 2023, p. 30). A date tells them which version they have.

    Order 12

Section B

Plant buyers and production staff

We found no published survey of precast plant buyers to set beside the AIA research. The items in this section come from our experience working with plants and the suppliers who sell to them, except where a source is linked.

The number after each item is the order we would add it in, in our experience: what lets a buyer find the product and reach you first, then what each buyer needs to decide, then what saves time later.

  • In our experience a buyer comparing suppliers first wants to know whether you publish prices or quote each order, and who sends the quote.

    Order 7

  • In our experience planners schedule production around deliveries. Saying how lead times are set and who confirms them helps without putting a number on the site.

    Order 15

  • In our experience a buyer needs the minimum order, the units you sell in and how freight works before placing a first order.

    Order 14

  • In our experience production staff read these at the form or the bed, often on a phone.

    Order 18

  • In our experience a problem on the casting floor needs an answer during the same shift.

    Order 8

  • For a hazardous chemical, OSHA requires the manufacturer to provide a safety data sheet with the first shipment and with the first shipment after it is updated (OSHA 1910.1200(g)(6)). In our experience a plant’s safety staff look for the current sheet online first.

    Order 10

  • In our experience this is the first question a plant’s quality staff ask: will it work with the materials and forms they already use.

    Order 16

  • In our experience a repeat buyer wants a short reorder form or a named order desk, so a routine order stays routine.

    Order 23

Section C

Both buyers

These apply to every page on the site, whoever is reading.

The number after each item is the order we would add it in, in our experience: what lets a buyer find the product and reach you first, then what each buyer needs to decide, then what saves time later.

  • Google says there are “no additional requirements” to appear in its AI features, and asks that crawling is allowed and that important content is “available in textual form” (Google).

    Order 3

  • Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of a site (Google) and recommends good Core Web Vitals, its measures of loading, responsiveness and visual stability (Google). In our experience architects and plant staff both look things up on a phone during the workday.

    Order 5

  • In our experience many buyers call before they fill in a form, and a name tells them someone will pick up.

    Order 1

  • In our experience a search result, an AI answer or a colleague’s link should land on the product itself, with its own address, title and documents.

    Order 2

Your list

What to add first

In our experience the items that matter most come first: what lets a buyer or specifier find the product and reach you, then what each of them needs to decide, then what saves them time later. Work down this order and skip what you ticked.

  1. A phone number and an email that reach a named person or team, on every page (Both)
  2. A page of its own for every product (Both)
  3. Findable by search engines and AI assistants (Both)
  4. Product data written as text and tables on the product page, with a PDF as a copy (Architects)
  5. Fast and easy to read on a phone (Both)
  6. A named person or team to call for help with a specification (Architects)
  7. How your pricing works and how to get a quote (Plant buyers)
  8. A technical support contact for production questions, with the hours it is answered (Plant buyers)
  9. Guide specifications in an editable format, such as Word (Architects)
  10. A current safety data sheet on each product page, where one applies (Plant buyers)
  11. Colors, finishes, textures and sizes, shown in photographs of the real product (Architects)
  12. A current date on every technical document (Architects)
  13. A way to order samples from the product page (Architects)
  14. How to order, and any minimums (Plant buyers)
  15. Your lead time policy, even if you do not publish lead times (Plant buyers)
  16. Compatibility with common mix designs, admixtures, release agents and form systems (Plant buyers)
  17. Test reports and certifications, each naming the standard it meets and its date (Architects)
  18. Installation or casting instructions, as text and photos with a printable copy (Plant buyers)
  19. The MasterFormat section number and title for each product (Architects)
  20. Photos of installed projects, with the building type and location (Architects)
  21. Sustainability documents where they exist, such as an EPD or HPD, and where the product is made (Architects)
  22. CAD details and BIM objects, where your product appears in drawings (Architects)
  23. A fast way to reorder, with part numbers on the page (Plant buyers)

Method and limits

The architect section is based on The Architect’s Journey to Specification, the AIA research series on how architects find and choose products. AIA published the 2026 edition with Deltek and ConstructConnect and gives it out through a download form, so we quote it only where AIA has published findings openly, on the report page and in its press release. The page references for the architect section come from the 2023 edition of the same series, which is public. Its survey went to a random sample of 8,000 AIA contacts in July and August 2023 and had 183 completed responses (AIA 2023, p. 34).

The plant buyer section rests on our experience, as each item says. The order of the list is our judgement. The checklist asks whether information is on the site. Whether it is correct and current is for the people who make the product to confirm.

Sources

  1. The American Institute of Architects with Deltek and ConstructConnect, The Architect’s Journey to Specification (2026), report page, February 6, 2026.
  2. The American Institute of Architects, “New research shows architects eager for greater influence in building product innovation,” press release, February 25, 2026.
  3. The American Institute of Architects, The Architect’s Journey to Specification 2023 (PDF), published by AIA and hosted by ConstructConnect.
  4. The American Institute of Architects, Environmental Product Declaration, resource center.
  5. HPD Collaborative, the Health Product Declaration Open Standard.
  6. Construction Specifications Institute, MasterFormat 2026.
  7. OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.1200, Hazard Communication, paragraph (g), safety data sheets.
  8. Google Search Central, AI features and your website.
  9. Google Search Central, mobile-first indexing best practices.
  10. Google Search Central, understanding Core Web Vitals and Google search results.

If you sell into precast plants, see how we work with suppliers. To look at your whole site rather than one product, try the website check, or contact us.

Product information checklist. Old Plank Group, oldplankgroup.com/resources/product-information-checklist/. Reviewed November 15, 2026.