diff --git a/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/config/Properties.kt b/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/config/Properties.kt
index d9dbb6c..c901c9e 100644
--- a/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/config/Properties.kt
+++ b/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/config/Properties.kt
@@ -54,7 +54,9 @@ class ChaincodeProperties {
     @NotNull var mainNet: Boolean = false
     @NotNull var emptyIterationBackoffMS: Int = 1_000
     @NotNull var txBatchSize: Int = 25
-    @NotNull var specTxBatchSize: Int = 10
+    @NotNull var contractSpecTxBatchSize: Int = 10
+    @NotNull var scopeSpecTxBatchSize: Int = 10
+    @NotNull var contractSpecTxTimeoutS = 60
     @NotNull var gasMultiplier: Double = 1.0
     @NotNull var maxGasMultiplierPerDay: Int = 1000
     @NotNull var blockHeightTimeoutInterval: Int = 20
diff --git a/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/service/ChaincodeInvokeService.kt b/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/service/ChaincodeInvokeService.kt
index c96acae..372f62e 100644
--- a/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/service/ChaincodeInvokeService.kt
+++ b/p8e-api/src/main/kotlin/io/provenance/engine/service/ChaincodeInvokeService.kt
@@ -401,7 +401,8 @@ class ChaincodeInvokeService(
         scopeSpecIdToContractSpecHashes: Map<UUID, Collection<ByteString>>,
         contractSpecs: List<ContractSpec>,
     ) {
-        log.info("received a set of contract specs: ${contractSpecs.size} and scope specs: ${scopeSpecs.size}")
+        val logPrefix = "[addContractSpecs]"
+        log.info("$logPrefix received a set of contract specs: ${contractSpecs.size} and scope specs: ${scopeSpecs.size}")
 
         val owners = listOf(accountProvider.bech32Address())
 
@@ -431,26 +432,74 @@ class ChaincodeInvokeService(
                     .addAllSigners(owners)
                     .build()
             }
-            contractSpecTx.plus(scopeSpecTx).chunked(chaincodeProperties.specTxBatchSize).forEach { messages ->
-                log.info("sending batch of ${messages.size} contract spec messages")
+            val contractSpecHashes = contractSpecTx.chunked(chaincodeProperties.contractSpecTxBatchSize).map { messages ->
+                log.info("$logPrefix sending batch of ${messages.size} contract spec messages")
                 val txBody = messages.toTxBody(provenanceGrpc.getLatestBlock().block.header.height + chaincodeProperties.blockHeightTimeoutInterval)
 
                 synchronized(provenanceGrpc) {
-                    batchTx(txBody, applyMultiplier = false).also {
+                    batchTx(txBody, applyMultiplier = false).let {
                         if (it.txResponse.code != 0) {
                             throw Exception("Error adding contract spec: ${it.txResponse.rawLog}")
                         }
 
-                        log.info("contract spec batch made it to mempool with txhash = ${it.txResponse.txhash}")
+                        log.info("$logPrefix contract spec batch made it to mempool with txhash = ${it.txResponse.txhash}")
+
+                        it.txResponse.txhash
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            log.info("$logPrefix waiting for ${contractSpecHashes.size} contract spec batches to complete")
+
+            // wait for all contract specs to be written
+            if (!contractSpecHashes.waitForAllTxsToCompleteSuccessfully(OffsetDateTime.now().plusSeconds(
+                    chaincodeProperties.contractSpecTxTimeoutS.toLong()
+            ))) {
+                throw Exception("Timeout waiting for all contract spec txs to complete successfully")
+            }
+
+            log.info("$logPrefix all ${contractSpecHashes.size} contract spec batches completed successfully")
+
+            scopeSpecTx.chunked(chaincodeProperties.scopeSpecTxBatchSize).forEach { messages ->
+                log.info("$logPrefix sending batch of ${messages.size} scope spec messages")
+                val txBody = messages.toTxBody(provenanceGrpc.getLatestBlock().block.header.height + chaincodeProperties.blockHeightTimeoutInterval)
+
+                synchronized(provenanceGrpc) {
+                    batchTx(txBody, applyMultiplier = false).also {
+                        if (it.txResponse.code != 0) {
+                            throw Exception("Error adding scope spec: ${it.txResponse.rawLog}")
+                        }
+
+                        log.info("$logPrefix scope spec batch made it to mempool with txhash = ${it.txResponse.txhash}")
                     }
                 }
             }
         } catch(e: Throwable) {
-            log.warn("failed to add contract spec: ${e.message}")
+            log.warn("$logPrefix failed to add contract spec: ${e.message}")
             throw e
         }
     }
 
+    fun List<String>.waitForAllTxsToCompleteSuccessfully(deadline: OffsetDateTime): Boolean {
+        var remaining = this
+        while (deadline.isAfter(OffsetDateTime.now())) {
+            remaining = remaining.filterNot {
+                val txResponse = provenanceGrpc.getTx(it)
+
+                if (txResponse.code > 0) {
+                    throw Exception("Error adding contract spec while waiting for completion (code ${txResponse.code}): ${txResponse.rawLog}")
+                }
+
+                txResponse.height > 0 && txResponse.code == 0 // filtering out transactions that have completed successfully
+            }
+
+            if (remaining.isEmpty()) {
+                return true
+            }
+        }
+        return false
+    }
+
     fun batchTx(body: TxBody, applyMultiplier: Boolean = true): BroadcastTxResponse {
         val accountNumber = accountInfo.accountNumber
         val sequenceNumber = getAndIncrementSequenceNumber()
diff --git a/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-container.properties b/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-container.properties
index c80b483..63de058 100644
--- a/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-container.properties
+++ b/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-container.properties
@@ -44,7 +44,9 @@ chaincode.chainId=${CHAINCODE_CHAIN_ID}
 chaincode.mnemonic=${CHAINCODE_MNEMONIC}
 chaincode.emptyIterationBackoffMS=${CHAINCODE_EMPTY_ITERATION_BACKOFF:750}
 chaincode.txBatchSize=${CHAINCODE_TX_BATCH_SIZE:25}
-chaincode.specTxBatchSize=${CHAINCODE_SPEC_TX_BATCH_SIZE:10}
+chaincode.contractSpecTxBatchSize=${CHAINCODE_CONTRACT_SPEC_TX_BATCH_SIZE:10}
+chaincode.scopeSpecTxBatchSize=${CHAINCODE_SCOPE_SPEC_TX_BATCH_SIZE:10}
+chaincode.contractSpecTxTimeoutS=${CHAINCODE_CONTRACT_SPEC_TX_TIMEOUT_S:60}
 chaincode.gasMultiplier=${CHAINCODE_GAS_MULTIPLIER:1.0}
 chaincode.maxGasMultiplierPerDay=${CHAINCODE_MAX_GAS_MULTIPLIER_PER_DAY:1000}
 chaincode.blockHeightTimeoutInterval=${CHAINCODE_BLOCK_HEIGHT_TIMEOUT_INTERVAL:20}
diff --git a/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-local.properties b/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-local.properties
index ea3c348..c7677f1 100644
--- a/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-local.properties
+++ b/p8e-api/src/main/resources/application-local.properties
@@ -39,7 +39,9 @@ chaincode.chainId=chain-local
 chaincode.mnemonic=${CHAINCODE_MNEMONIC}
 chaincode.emptyIterationBackoffMS=750
 chaincode.txBatchSize=25
-chaincode.specTxBatchSize=25
+chaincode.contractSpecTxBatchSize=10
+chaincode.scopeSpecTxBatchSize=10
+chaincode.contractSpecTxTimeoutS=60
 
 # Elasticsearch
 elasticsearch.host=localhost