Traditional, Non-automated Detailing

Although we call it non-automated, traditional detailing is a slightly less formal version of semi-automated detailing. The rules used are not necessarily recorded anywhere, and their application is often haphazard, but the effect is the same, save that the benefits of pre-developed mechanisms are not provided, and variations between designers are more common. These systems require that the designer analyse a design constantly looking for details which should be present.

The limiting languages used are normally the requirements of the user, and the normal practice of the industry. The designer makes a number of decisions at a high level, and carries those ideas through the design of each element at the lower levels. The language serves as hints on what elements need to be dealt with, as opposed to providing solutions for each element.

Office plan checklists -- Vernacular architecture's insurance of normalcy

The vernacular as a limiting language, the expectations of the industry.