New edition of MasterFormat now available

by | April 26, 2016 11:48 am

The revised 2016 edition of MasterFormat is available for purchase at Spex.ca[1]. The joint publication of CSC and CSI, it is a master list of numbers and titles classified by work results or construction practices, used to organize project manuals, detail cost information, and relate drawing notations to specifications.

The resource is managed by the MasterFormat Maintenance Task Team, which conducts a biennial revision cycle process, publishing updates to the format every two years. This committee of volunteers develops the changes to the format based on input from industry supporters and proposals from individual users. Its members include CSC past-presidents Thomas Dunbar, CSI, FCSC, RSW and Keith Robinson, CSI, FCSC, RSW, along with Jason Urquhart, PE, who represents the National Master Specification (NMS).

In addition to the many individual sections added or clarified[2] from the most recent edition of MasterFormat, two divisions in the new resource benefited from significant work provided by subject matter experts to help their contents better support the work of professionals working in those areas.

Division 28−Electronic Safety and Security encompasses work results for the electronic and ‘intelligent’ elements related to facility security, fire detection and alarms, and other life safety systems. From its introduction in 2004 until 2014, the division experienced very few changes, while the security industry evolved extensively due to both technological innovations and the realities of the post-9/11 world.

The Security Industry Association (SIA) assembled a technical subcommittee to provide the subject matter expertise for a near complete revision of Division 28, bringing it current with today’s security industry. The task team helped fit the SIA work into the document in a way that would result in the least disruption for current users. SIA will maintain this standing committee to continue to offer input to MasterFormat so that it keeps pace with new developments.

Similarly, Division 33−Utilities underwent a comprehensive, top-to-bottom revision, updating references to all types of ‘outside-the-fence’ utilities, including water, wastewater, stormwater, hydrocarbons (e.g. petroleum and natural gas), hydronic and steam energy, high- and extra-high voltage electrical, and communications. These revisions (as well as associated revisions to sections in Divisions 35−Waterway and Marine Construction and Division 41−Material Processing and Handling Equipment) are the culmination of a nine-year process undertaken by an ad-hoc working group, the Environmental Engineers Coalition (EEC), comprising representatives of ten major firms with significant practice in the fields of environmental, process, utilities, and water/wastewater construction. EEC collaborated with the Maintenance Task Team to ensure the changes it proposed worked within the expectations of MasterFormat, providing value and familiarity to users.

The updates are already reflected on www.masterformat.com[3], which is accessible to all CSC members or those who have purchased the document within the last two years.

Source URL: https://www.constructioncanada.net/new-edition-of-masterformat-now-available/

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