Grades

A grade is not a mood. It is a set of rules about which substrate goes where, how the grain runs across a row of doors, and how big a gap is allowed. Specify Premium and price Custom, and the shop builds the difference for free. The drafter is often the first person who reads the grade against every surface in the job.

The three grades

AWI uses three grades. The Architectural Woodwork Standards, 1st Edition (2009), Section 10, defines them:

Grade	The standard's definition
Economy	"defines the minimum quality requirements for a project's workmanship, materials, or installation and is typically reserved for woodwork that is not in public view, such as in mechanical rooms and utility areas."
Custom	"is typically specified for and adequately covers most high-quality architectural woodwork, providing a well-defined degree of control over a project's quality of materials, workmanship, or installation."
Premium	"is typically specified for use in those areas of a project where the highest level of quality, materials, workmanship, and installation is required."

AWI's current site says the grades "indicate the level of control over materials, workmanship, and manufacture, with Premium Grade having the highest level of control."

AWMAC uses two. Its GIS page: "AWMAC's grades are Custom and Premium. Both grades may occur in a single project. If you do not specify a grade, Custom grade is the default."

Four rules about grades that change a set

1. Custom is the default

The AWS 1st Edition, Section 10, under "Default Stipulation": "If not otherwise specified or indicated, all work shall be Custom Grade". AWI-QCP calls Custom "the default grade in the AWI Standards". AWMAC says the same for its standard. A spec that names a standard but no grade gets Custom.

2. Grades can be mixed in one job

The AWS 1st Edition: "These standards are characterized in three Grades of quality that may be mixed within a single project." The Woodwork Institute's sample shop drawings show it on sheet 1. Its W.I. SPECIFIED GRADE block lists:

Item	Grade on the sample
Tops	Custom
Cabinets	Custom
Millwork	Custom
Doors (room)	Premium

A later sheet in the same sample, a transaction counter plan, carries the note PREMIUM GRADE CONSTRUCTION. The grade can change by product, and by room.

3. Back-of-house gets Economy unless the spec says otherwise

The AWS 2nd Edition (2014), Section 10: "STORAGE, JANITOR CLOSET, and/or UTILITY ROOM CABINETS shall be built in conformance to Economy Grade, regardless of the overall project's Grade requirement, unless specified otherwise." Check your room list. A Premium job still has a cleaner's cupboard.

4. Economy cannot be certified by QCP

AWI-QCP: "A project is not eligible to be QCP-certified based on economy grade requirements." Firms license at Custom or Premium: "you cannot get licensed on economy grade". If a spec asks for QCP labels on Economy work, that is a conflict to raise.

What actually changes between grades

AWI-QCP's own summary of the difference between Premium and Custom: "In terms of overall joinery, there is no distinction between the two grades. The main differences are aesthetic in regard to the materials and the tolerances for gaps and flushness of assembled joints and at installation."

So the grade mostly decides three things: what material faces each surface, how grain and pattern are laid out, and how tight the fit is. The first two can be read from the AWS 2nd Edition's public pages. The third cannot, for a reason explained below.

Surfaces first

Grade rules hang off surface categories, so learn those before anything else. The AWS 2nd Edition, Section 10, defines four:

Category	Definition (AWS 2, Section 10)	Examples it lists
Exposed exterior	"all exterior surfaces exposed to view"	Everything visible with doors and drawers closed, including knee spaces; cabinet bottoms over 42" above floor; cabinet tops under 80" above floor; front edges of stretchers, ends, divisions, tops and bottoms
Exposed interior	"all interior surfaces exposed to view in open casework or behind transparent doors"	Shelves including edgebanding; interior faces of ends, backs and bottoms; interior face of doors and applied drawer fronts
Semi-exposed	"those interior surfaces only exposed to view when doors or drawers are opened"	Shelf faces; interior of ends, backs and bottoms; drawer sides, sub fronts, backs and bottoms; cabinet bottoms 24" to 42" above floor
Concealed	"those exterior or interior surfaces that are covered or not normally exposed to view"	Toe space unless otherwise specified; sleepers, stretchers and solid sub tops; cabinet bottoms under 24" above floor

Notice that height changes the category. The same cabinet bottom is concealed at 18", semi-exposed at 30", and exposed at 48". A wall cabinet mounted higher than the designer expected can move a surface into a stricter class.

AWS 1st Edition: "Aesthetic GRADE RULES apply only to exposed and semi-exposed surfaces visible after installation." Concealed surfaces are, in the AWS 2 wording, "the manufacturer's choice" at every grade.

Materials by grade and surface

From the AWS 2nd Edition, Section 10, "Surface Finish Requirements". Wood casework unless noted.

Surface	Economy	Custom	Premium
Exposed exterior, opaque finish	Particleboard, MDF, MDO, softwood plywood, hardwood plywood, or solid stock	MDF, MDO, close grain hardwood plywood, or solid stock	MDF and MDO
Exposed exterior, transparent finish	"wood of specified species, cut, and match" at all grades
Exposed interior, transparent finish	LPDL or wood of the manufacturer's choice	Wood of the same species as the exposed exterior	Wood of the same species and cut as the exposed exterior
Exposed interior, opaque finish	Particleboard, MDF, MDO, softwood plywood, hardwood plywood, or solid stock of manufacturer's choice	MDF, MDO, close grain hardwood plywood, or solid stock of manufacturer's choice	MDF and MDO of manufacturer's choice
Semi-exposed	Wood of manufacturer's choice of species, MDO, MDF, particleboard, or LPDL	Wood of manufacturer's choice of species, or LPDL	Wood of a compatible species to the exposed
Decorative laminate casework, exposed exterior	LPDL of specified colour or pattern	HPDL of specified colour or pattern	HPDL of specified colour or pattern
Decorative laminate casework, exposed interior	LPDL of the manufacturer's choice	HPDL or LPDL compatible to the exposed exterior in colour, grain or pattern	HPDL, the same as the exposed exterior
Decorative laminate casework, semi-exposed	LPDL of the manufacturer's choice of colour, at all grades

(HPDL: high-pressure decorative laminate. LPDL: low-pressure decorative laminate. The AWS abbreviations.)

Read one row as a cost question. Semi-exposed surfaces on a wood-faced Premium job must be "wood of a compatible species to the exposed". On a Custom job they can be LPDL. Every cabinet interior, shelf and drawer box in the job changes material with that one word.

Grain layout by grade

From the AWS 2nd Edition, Section 10, "Layout Requirements of Grained or Patterned Faces by Grade", for flush panel doors and drawer fronts:

Grade	Rule
Economy	Drawer fronts "run either vertically or horizontally at the manufacturer's choice for the entire project. Doors shall be vertical. Mismatch is allowed"
Custom	"doors, drawer fronts, and false fronts shall run and match vertically within each cabinet unit"
Premium	Doors, drawer fronts and false fronts "shall run and match vertically and be sequenced horizontally within each cabinet unit; and at cathedral grain, the crown shall be pointing up and run in the same direction for the entire project." They "shall be well matched for color and grain across multiple cabinet faces in one elevation."

One sentence in the Premium rule belongs on your drawings: "Requirement for blueprint or sequencing between cabinet units must be so specified." Premium alone matches within a unit and "well matched" across an elevation. Sequencing from one unit to the next, or a blueprint match across a whole wall, is extra. If the designer's rendering shows continuous grain across a run of cabinets, and the spec says only Premium, that is a question.

AWS 2 also lists what a spec must state for wood casework, including "Matching between doors, drawers, and adjacent panels (non sequenced, sequenced, or blueprint)" and "Grain direction, if other than vertical". If those are missing, the grade default applies, and the grade default may not be what the designer drew.

Other construction rules that move with grade

• Raised panels. AWS 2, Section 10: "Solid lumber raised panels may be used when width does not exceed Custom Grade standard. Rim raised panels are required for Premium Grade or when widths exceed Custom Grade or when transparent finish is used." The width limit itself is in the grade rules, not on the public pages.
• Presentation panels. Surfaces behind white boards or tack boards are "Semi Exposed at Economy Grade and Custom Grade" and "Exposed at Premium Grade" (AWS 2, Section 10).
• Substrates for doors. AWI-QCP's FAQ says the casework standards allow particleboard, MDF or non-telegraphing veneer core cabinet components at any grade, with one restriction: cabinet doors and drawer fronts, "which does not allow the use of a veneer core due to possible warping."

Fit, repairs and the numbers you cannot see

AWI-QCP describes the tolerance difference only in words: for Premium, "the gap tolerances between the panels are the tightest of all the grades", and "In terms of repairs and touch-ups, premium quality projects should be indistinguishable at 24 inches. As a point of comparison, QCP custom levels are indistinguishable at 48 inches."

The gap, flushness and flatness numbers themselves sit in the grade rules. Those are not in the public copies. The Woodwork Institute's public web copy of AWS 1st Edition, Section 10, says why, at the point where the rules would start: the following portions "are excluded intentionally to protect our sale of grade rules, which allows us the ability to provide the standards free of charge to architects, designers, and specification writers."

Why grade prices a job

Each rule above moves cost in a direction you can see:

• Material. Premium semi-exposed wood instead of Custom LPDL, in every cabinet.
• Yield. Premium grain matching and horizontal sequencing within a unit means veneer and panels are laid out and cut as a set, not picked from stock.
• Labour. Tighter gaps and flushness mean more fitting. Repairs that must vanish at 24 inches instead of 48 mean fewer acceptable repairs.
• Construction method. Rim raised panels instead of solid lumber panels at Premium.
• Certification. A QCP firm licensed only at Custom "would have to upgrade your license if you win a project that's based on premium grade", per AWI-QCP.

This book does not give a percentage cost difference between grades. None was found in a source that could be opened and named.

What the drafter checks

1. Find the grade for every item. Read Part 1 and Part 2 of the woodwork specification sections. List each product type and its grade. If an item has none, it is Custom by default under the standards quoted above. Write that down as an assumption, and say so on the cover.
2. Put the grade on the cover sheet. Copy the Woodwork Institute sample's idea: a block listing each product type and its grade.
3. Bound the changes on plan. Where the grade changes by room or by item, show the boundary. A reception desk at Premium inside a Custom fit-out needs a line around it.
4. Classify every surface. On sections, note exposed, semi-exposed and concealed where it is not obvious. Watch heights: 24", 36", 42" and 80" above floor change categories in AWS 2.
5. Match every material callout to the grade table. A semi-exposed LPDL callout on a Premium wood job is wrong under AWS 2. A particleboard opaque exposed exterior on Custom is wrong under AWS 2.
6. Write the grain rule on the elevation. Grain direction, match within the unit, sequencing across units. If the design intent is more than the grade gives, ask for it to be specified.
7. Check utility rooms. Storage, janitor and utility cabinets fall to Economy unless specified otherwise (AWS 2). If the designer wants them better, the spec has to say so.
8. Check the certification against the grade. QCP will not certify Economy work.
9. Read the tolerance tables for your standard and grade before detailing reveals and joints.

Sources

• Architectural Woodwork Standards, 2nd Edition (1 October 2014), Section 10, Casework, introductory pages 283–294, © AWI, AWMAC, WI, PDF hosted by the Woodwork Institute. Surface categories, surface finish requirements by grade, grain layout by grade, raised panels, presentation panels, utility cabinets at Economy, specify-requirements list. Superseded. Primary (superseded edition).
• Architectural Woodwork Standards, 1st Edition (2009), Section 10, Casework, Woodwork Institute public web copy. Grade definitions, grades may be mixed, Custom default stipulation, grade rules apply to exposed and semi-exposed surfaces, the note on grade rules withheld from the free copy. Superseded. Primary (superseded edition).
• Architectural Woodwork Institute, "How AWI Standards Work", awinet.org. Three grades and what they indicate. Primary.
• AWI Quality Certification Program, awiqcp.org: "What is premium vs. custom grade?" (11 April 2023); "Everything You Need to Know About AWI's Premium Grade" (14 June 2021); "What Do the Grade Requirements in the AWI Standards Mean?" (14 August 2020); FAQ. Custom default, no Economy certification, licence grades, joinery the same at Custom and Premium, 24"/48" repair visibility, veneer core restriction on doors. Primary as the publisher's own summary, not the standard's text.
• AWMAC, GIS page, awmac.com. Custom and Premium only; Custom default. Primary.
• Woodwork Institute sample shop drawings, 26 sheets, watermarked SAMPLE. Specified-grade block with mixed grades; "PREMIUM GRADE CONSTRUCTION" note. Document.

Dropped for lack of an opened source: gap, flushness and flatness tolerances by grade; the solid raised panel width limit; any cost difference between grades; the share of QCP firms working at Premium (two AWI-QCP posts give different figures, "About 90%" and "Approximately 80% to 90%").