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Specifiers' Library Organization and Arrangement of Specs
THE PATH TO SUCCESSFUL CONSTRUCTION SPECIFICATIONS

MasterFormat™, Master List of Numbers and Titles for the Construction Industry

  • 2004 Edition
  • Published by Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada, www.csinet.org
  • Free pdf copy with just the numbers and titles is at www.csinet.org/masterformat.
  • Buy the print publication and CD-ROM on-line.
  • highly recommended Highly recommended

This publication contains a complete list of the Construction Specifications Institute's recommended section numbers and titles, as well as a key word index to aid in finding the appropriate section number. This is one resource that should be on every spec writer's "must-have" list. Very useful if sections that are not in your master are to be added. Also useful for coordinating between disciplines and between portions of the specification prepared by different consultants.

The 2004 edition is a significant departure from the 1995 (previous) edition and is the cause of a lot of grumbling and gnashing of teeth (if not hysteria) over changing specs to Masterformat 2004. In the U.S., all the commercial specification services and major information brokers in the construction industry have already implemented the 2004 edition, usually side-by-side with the earlier edition.

SpecLink referenced document SpecLink users don't have to worry much about implementing the 2004 edition of MasterFormat because SpecLink uses both sets of numbers and has a built-in "switch" that flips back and forth between them. BSD offers a cross-reference spreadsheet that users can use to track their user-added sections as well.

CSI UniFormat™, A Uniform Classification of Construction Systems and Assemblies

  • 1998 edition
  • Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada, www.csinet.org

This publication contains an organizational scheme for building elements -- the parts of the building -- without regard to what products they are made out of. Useful for organizing early design narratives and similar descriptions of the building. It is also commonly used to organize cost estimates and might be referred to as the "flip side" of MasterFormat.

ASTM E 1557, Standard Classification of Building Elements and Related Sitework - UniFormat II, 2005 edition, from ASTM International, www.astm.org is almost identical to CSI's UniFormat™, without a suggested numbering scheme and with different commentary.

PerSpective referenced document The performance/design criteria specifications portion of BSD SpecLink is organized generally according to UniFormat.

SectionFormat™

  • .... edition (currently under review for new publication Summer 2007)
  • Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada, www.csinet.org
  • Order on-line.
  • highly recommended Highly recommended

This publication is CSI/CSC's recommended organization of information within an individual specification section. The consistency introduced by following SectionFormat promotes readability, reduces omissions by the writer, and helps readers (i.e. bidders) avoid overlooking essential requirements.

SpecLink referenced document SpecLink's construction specifications follow SectionFormat.

PageFormat™

  • .... edition (currently under review for new publication Summer 2007)
  • Construction Specifications Institute and Construction Specifications Canada, www.csinet.org
  • Order on-line.
  • highly recommended Highly recommended

This publication describes CSI/CSC's recommended page layout and paragraph numbering scheme, designed to promote readability of specification documents.

SpecLink referenced document One of the 4 built-in page formatting options in SpecLink is the CSI/CSC PageFormat.

EJCDC 1910-16, "Uniform Location of Subject Matter"

This publication contains an easy-to-use tabular reference for the principal types of information included in specifications, with recommended primary and secondary locations. It also indicates where information needs to be repeated in documents intended for different purposes. It is primarily oriented to Divisions 0 and 1, for coordination and correct preparation of bidding documents, supplementary conditions, and general requirements specifications and is a helpful educational tool for those subjects.

The SpecLink Specifiers' Library is provided as a service to our customers by Building Systems Design, Inc.