Home Glossary Basis of design Glossary Basis of design By Deviation Check Editorial Team. Short answer The specific product a spec is written around, named so that other products can be measured against it. Submittals that drift from the basis of design are a common source of deviations. Related terms Or equalSubstitution request Browse the full glossary, the CSI division guides, or learn how submittal review works. Then run a review. View this page as Markdown for LLMs and note-taking.