Dan Merriman is communications manager for the Construction Specifications Institute, Alexandria, Virginia.  He can be reached at dmerriman@csinet.org; this is his first article for Facilities Manager. CSI is a strategic alliance partner of APPA.

Project delivery and facility management have taken a major step forward with the recent release of MasterFormat™ 2004 Edition. This new version of commercial construction’s predominant organizational standard for project information is designed to reduce changes and delays—in construction and in facility maintenance and operations—caused by incomplete, misplaced, or missing data. How? By undergoing the biggest expansion in the product’s 40-year history. The expansion fosters more comprehensive and detailed specifications. And of particular importance to building owners and facility managers, the new edition addresses all phases of the project life cycle, not just construction.

Used in the United States and Canada for more than 70 percent of commercial and institutional construction projects, MasterFormat is a master list of number and titles for organizing specifications, contracting and procurement requirements, and other data. As the industry’s “Dewey Decimal System,” MasterFormat standardizes communication of information critical to engineers, architects, specifiers, contractors, and suppliers in meeting owners’ requirements, schedules, and budgets.

Industry: MasterFormat Had to Expand

MasterFormat organizes project data into “divisions,” and each division is made up of many section numbers and titles, which are the building blocks of any project manual. Since the early 1960s, MasterFormat has had 16 divisions. But while MasterFormat 2004 Edition was being developed construction practitioners and organizations made it clear that the 16-division structure couldn’t handle the rapidly increasing volume and complexity of project data. Causing the overcrowding were many recent advances in building products and technologies, chiefly brought on by increased use of computers for managing facility systems. New priorities for buildings also added to the problem. For example, security and life safety, especially post-September 11, impact projects as never before. Green building, rarely mentioned 40 years ago, is now a major concern and interest. So are integrated systems for operating and maintaining facilities.

Also, MasterFormat’s traditional five-digit section numbers didn’t provide for enough “slots” in many divisions. That forced earlier editions to make compromises in classifying information. For example, items like cathodic protection, lightning protection, fire suppression, detection and alarm, and solar and wind energy equipment were put in Division 13 (Special Construction) instead of Division 15 (Mechanical) or Division 16 (Electrical) because Division 13 had room. And to address areas that MasterFormat didn’t cover, or covered inadequately, non-standard section numbers and divisions began to appear. Officially, they don’t exist, but many “Division 17s” were created across the industry, for everything from telecommunications to railway track work to signaling.

Such Band-Aid approaches resulted in misplaced or missing information, leading to errors, omissions, and rework that cost time and money. What had been intended as an information management standard was becoming less useful for that purpose.

How MasterFormat Has Improved

Based on unprecedented industry input throughout its development, the philosophy of MasterFormat 2004 Edition is to provide an organizational structure that:

1. Systematically encompasses all data generated, throughout their life cycle, for today’s projects.
2. Assimilates growth, in volume and complexity, of project information.
3. Provides more space and detail for mechanical and electrical disciplines.
4. Addresses the needs of horizontal construction (roads, bridges, dams, rail, and utilities) as well as vertical.
5. Covers process engineering subjects, which previous editions largely ignored.
6. Maintains organizational consistency.
7. Follows recognized information classification principles.

That philosophy is reflected in MasterFormat 2004 Edition’s new features, which include the following sections.

General

• An increase to 50 divisions (numbered 00-49) from 16.
• The contents of Divisions 03 to 14 remain much the same as in MasterFormat 1995.
• Divisions 01-49 are in five subgroups:
  • General Requirements Subgroup (Division 01)
  • Facility Construction Subgroup (Divisions 02-19)
  • Facility Services Subgroup (Divisions 20-29)
  • Site and Infrastructure Subgroup (Divisions 30-39)
  • Process Equipment Subgroup (Divisions 40-49)
• Some division numbers are reserved for project information to be generated by future products, technologies, and methods.
• The new paired, six-digit section numbering system expands by more than a hundredfold the number of level-three sections in each division.

Facility Services Subgroup (Divisions 20-29)

• The 1995 MasterFormat’s Division 15 (Mechanical) has been replaced by divisions providing expanded coverage for:
  
  • Fire Suppression (Division 21)
  • Plumbing (Division 22)
  •  Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (Division 23)
    
• The old Division 16 (Electrical) is expanded through the creation of these divisions:
  • Integrated Automation (Division 25)
  • Electrical (Division 26)
  • Communications (Division 27)
  • Electronic Safety and Security (Division 28)

Site and Infrastructure Subgroup (Divisions 31-35)

This subgroup expands MasterFormat to cover site and heavy civil projects, including transportation, utility, and marine construction.

Process Equipment Subgroup (Divisions 40-48)

The last subgroup expands MasterFormat to address manufacturing, water and wastewater treatment, power generation, and other types of process engineering projects.

How MasterFormat 2004 Edition Can Benefit Educational Facility Managers

If you manage information well, you manage costs well, and MasterFormat 2004 Edition can help maximize information management for facility managers. That’s because the new edition expands the cataloging system for organizing design and construction information to cover the entire facility life cycle. Every division in MasterFormat 2004 Edition has numbers and titles for locating information on commissioning and decommissioning building elements. Take, for example, elevator repair or replacement. Detailed specifications for decertifying, removing, and replacing elevators can be written and be on file in a location common to everyone who might be involved, no matter when such operations might occur during the structure’s life cycle. That’s a major improvement over having to rely on possibly incomplete information that may or may not have been supplied originally by product representatives or the designer.

MasterFormat 2004 Edition also has additional section numbers in each division for operations and maintenance activities. The new edition can be used for developing specifications for such things as carpet cleaning, fire extinguishers’ upkeep, and roof repair, and can even be used to specify maintenance required under warranty, saving time and money over the facility’s life cycle.

Aiding the Transition to MasterFormat 2004 Edition

MasterFormat users have several options and tools available with the document for transitioning to the new edition. Included with MasterFormat 2004 Edition to aid the transition from a previous edition are:

• The Transition Matrix – An Excel® file on the CD included with the publication, it shows the new edition’s equivalents to the 1995 and 1988 editions’ numbers and titles.
• The Keyword Index – Lists terms and what section numbers are best.

Education on MasterFormat at the CSI Show & Convention

The 49th Annual CSI Show & Convention (April 20-23, Chicago) will conduct a variety of continuing education sessions on MasterFormat 2004 Edition. On Wednesday, April 20, there will be separate continuing education forums for users from various design and construction disciplines, including one each for facility managers and owners. Each forum will address topics of specific concern as to how MasterFormat 2004 Edition will affect operations, features and benefits of particular interest, tactics for seamlessly switching to the new edition, and best practices for using the resource. Each forum will be presented by a member of either the MasterFormat Expansion Task Team, which developed the new edition, or the MasterFormat Implementation Task Team, which is leading CSI’s program to aid the construction industry’s transition to the new edition.

Also, the CSI Show & Convention’s April 20 opening general session will feature a panel of prominent industry figures discussing issues about MasterFormat 2004 Edition that are of industry-wide interest. On Saturday, April 23, education sessions will address the new edition’s application guide and keynoting with the new version.

Paid registrants attending the CSI Show & Convention’s continuing education program receive on site a free copy of MasterFormat™ 2004 Edition, a $159 value. For more information about the CSI Show & Convention or to register, go to www.thecsishow.com.

Also in 2005, CSI will provide education at architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) firms, corporations, government agencies, and other organizations. Updates on MasterFormat 2004 Edition education are at: www.csinet.org/masterformateducation.

Master Guide Spec Systems Converting

By year’s end several master guide specifications systems will have revised their products to conform to MasterFormat 2004 Edition. They include:

• ARCOM’s MasterSpec®
• Building Systems Design’s BSD SpecLink® (a global switch rearranges specs per the 2004 or 1995 editions.)
• CSRF SpecText®
• Digicon Information Inc.
• Canada’s National Master Guide Specifications.

What’s Next?

The former system of publishing new editions of MasterFormat every five to seven years is out. Instead, CSI is developing a procedure for assigning new section and division numbers on a continuing basis to meet the industry’s evolving needs.

For more information about MasterFormat 2004 Edition, visit www.csinet.org/masterformat or call CSI at 800-689-2900.