MasterFormat

MasterFormat is a standard for organizing specifications and other written information for commercial and institutional building projects in the U.S. and Canada.[1] Sometimes referred to as the "Dewey Decimal System" of building construction, MasterFormat is a product of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and Construction Specifications Canada (CSC). It provides a master list of Divisions, and Section numbers with associated titles within each Division, to organize information about a facility’s construction requirements and associated activities.[2]

MasterFormat is used throughout the construction industry to format specifications for construction contract documents. The purpose of this format is to assist the user to organize information into distinct groups when creating contract documents, and to assist the user searching for specific information in consistent locations. Information contained in MasterFormat is organized in a standardized outline format within 50 Divisions (16 Divisions pre-2004). Each Division is subdivided into a number of Sections.[3]

Related Organizational Formats

SectionFormat is a standard for organizing information within each Section. A Section is divided into three Parts—"general," "products," and "execution." Each Part is further organized into a system of Articles and Paragraphs.

A relatively new strategy to classify the built environment, named OmniClass,[4] incorporates the work results classification in its Table 22 Work Results.

Advantages

Standardizing the presentation of such information improves communication among all parties involved in construction projects. That helps the project team deliver structures to owners according to their requirements, timelines, and budgets. An indication of the widespread acceptance of MasterFormat is that the ASTM standard for sustainability assessment of building products relies on MasterFormat to organize the data.[5] MasterFormat is an integral component of the SpecsIntact system. SpecsIntact (Specifications Kept Intact), is an automated specifications processing system for preparing certain government facility construction projects using standard master specifications, called Master Text or Masters, supplied by each of three government agencies. SpecsIntact was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and designed for use by engineers, architects, interior designers, specification writers, project managers and construction managers. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) and the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has also adopted SpecsIntact as their standard specifications system, greatly facilitating the effort to standardize construction specifications throughout these agencies.[6] These services utilize MasterFormat from UFGS (United Facilities Guide Specification) sections found on the Whole Building Design Guide website.

History

After World War II, building construction specifications began to expand, as more advanced materials and choices were made available.[7] The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) was founded in 1948, and began to address the organization of specifications into a numbering system. In 1963, they published a format for construction specifications, with 16 major divisions of work. A 1975 CSI publication used the term MasterFormat. The last CSI MasterFormat publication to use the 16 divisions was in 1995, and this is no longer supported by CSI. In November 2004, MasterFormat expanded from 16 Divisions to 50 Divisions, reflecting innovations in the construction industry and expanding the coverage to a larger part of the construction industry. Updates were published in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

Current MasterFormat Divisions (April 2014)

The current MasterFormat Divisions are:

PROCUREMENT AND CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS GROUP

SPECIFICATIONS GROUP

General Requirements Subgroup

Facility Construction Subgroup

Facility Services Subgroup:

Site and Infrastructure Subgroup:

Process Equipment Subgroup:

Pre-2012 MasterFormat Divisions

MASTERFORMAT 2004 EDITION

Same as MasterFormat 2014, except the following:

MASTERFORMAT 1995 EDITION

Before November 2004, MasterFormat was composed of 16 Divisions:

MASTERFORMAT 1988 EDITION

Same as MasterFormat 1995 except the following:

References

  1. ↑ Mowrer, F. "Development of the fire Data Management System" Department of Fire Protection and Engineering, NIST-GCR-94-693, August 1993.
  2. ↑ Charette, R. and Marshall, A."Uniformat II Elemental classification for Building Specifications, Cost Estimating, and Cost Analysis," NIST BFRL Office of applied Economics, NISTIR6389, October 1999.
  3. ↑ Ross Spiegel and Dru Meadows, Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1999.
  4. ↑ http://www.omniclass.org/
  5. ↑ ASTM Standard E2129-05, 2005, "Standard Practice for Data Collection for Sustainability Assessment of Building Products", ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2005, doi:10.1520/E2129-05, [www.astm.org].
  6. ↑ Morales, M. "SpecsIntact" National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899, website last accessed May 4, 2009.
  7. ↑ http://www.technical-expressions.com/mf/spec-history/index.html
  8. ↑ http://www.csinet.org/Home-Page-Category/Formats/MasterFormat/About-MF/MasterFormat-2014-Numbers-Titles.pdf
  9. ↑ http://www.csinet.org/Home-Page-Category/Formats/MasterFormat/About-MF/MasterFormat-2014-Numbers-Titles.pdf

External links