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LinkLine: Winter 2004

Switching to the New MasterFormat™

The 2004 edition of CSI/CSC’s MasterFormat™ has been released and is now available for sale. Now what? Many individuals in the construction industry are wondering how, whether, and when they should make the change from the familiar 16-division format. Staff who are responsible for producing construction specifications are most affected by the changes and are most likely to be in a quandary about how to proceed. They must deal with a number of issues, including the following:

  • When will information providers offer product information in the new format?
  • When will owners demand that specifications be written in the new format?
  • What is the best procedure for persuading/requiring outside consultants to make the switch?
  • How much time and effort will be required to convert office master specifications?
  • Is it necessary to make the conversion in one fell swoop, or can the conversion be accomplished gradually?
  • Will there be a period of time during which an office will need to produce specs in both formats? If so, how will the two separate office masters be maintained in parallel?
  • In firms that use keynoting, what additional steps will be needed to coordinate CAD details with the new format?
  • Are there any tools that will make the whole conversion process easier?
Subscribers know that BSD SpecLink is a software tool that has eliminated a large part of the problem for specification writers. The new global MasterFormat switch allows SpecLink users to switch any project back and forth between the 1995 and 2004 formats automatically. The global switch even changes internal cross references, so much of the tedium has been eliminated from the changeover. This means that SpecLink offices can switch their specifications to the new format at any time and can issue specifications in either format indefinitely. They also do not have to maintain dual office masters.

It’s true that user-added sections in SpecLink cannot be automatically converted by the software. However, a number of features help our users expedite the conversion of sections that have been manually inserted or imported from word processing files. When a project is first switched to the new MasterFormat, any user-added sections are automatically placed in the Unassigned folder at the bottom of the tree. From there, it’s a simple matter to Move each section to its correct location in the new MasterFormat, using a mapping spreadsheet available from BSD or CSI to identify the correct new number and title. Subsequently, these user-mapped sections will also convert automatically back and forth when the MasterFormat global switch is activated. In addition to mapping the individual user-added sections, users will want to map any cross-referenced section numbers within the text to their corresponding numbers in the new MasterFormat. Users accomplish this second mapping task by inserting a special MasterFormat Version choice that replaces the original section number in user-added paragraphs. The choice dialog box allows the user to insert the two corresponding section numbers, so the global MasterFormat switch setting subsequently will cause the appropriate section number to be displayed.

Although it has significantly reduced the work involved in updating specifications, SpecLink won’t solve all our users’ problems related to MasterFormat conversion. Outside consultants who use word processing instead of SpecLink may have to be cajoled into cooperating within whatever conversion timetable is ultimately established. Library organization will be affected, and CAD details may have to be renamed or renumbered. Each office will have to deal with these related issues on an ad hoc basis, relying on input from everyone involved. In moving forward on the conversion process, it may be helpful to get some ideas from CSI’s website. At www.csinet.org/masterformat, you can share your strategies and read about others in the “MasterFormat Implementation Discussion & Commentary” area. You can also order the new MasterFormat publication from the same location.

At BSD we are working to make the specifications transition as easy as possible for our subscribers, and our technical support group stands ready to help with software and master specification issues. We won’t be able to help you much in other aspects of the transition, but we know that with careful planning a complete conversion to the new MasterFormat can be accomplished with a minimum of expense and disruption. We wish you good luck in that enterprise.