Extensively revised and expanded, MasterFormat 2004 Edition is a much more powerful tool than previous editions. True to its mission as the construction industry's information clearinghouse, CSI listened to what users said they needed and the new edition delivers. It aids project delivery by enabling users to write more comprehensive and detailed specifications, necessitated by the large amounts of construction information generated as today's increasingly complex buildings advance in technology and as new construction materials and methods proliferate.  Take a look at the upgrades:

General

• Increase to 50 divisions from 16.
• For continuity, the subject matter of Divisions 03 to 14 remains basically the same as in MasterFormat 1995.
• Some division numbers are reserved for future expansion.
• The new six-digit section numbering system greatly increases the amount of possible sections and provides room for future expansion.
• MasterFormat 2004 / 1995 Comparison
• MasterFormat 2004 - Bookmark

Facility Construction Divisions

• Many more topics addressed. 
• Divisions reorganized and their number increased.
• Divisions 00-14 similar to those in 1995 edition.
• Separate divisions for:
  • Fire suppression
  • Plumbing
  • Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning
  • Integrated Automation
  • Electrical
  • Communications
  • Electronic Safety and Security
• Building site construction-related material relocated from old Division 2 to new Divisions 31 and 32.

MasterFormat 2004 edition will advance the project delivery process and benefit most types of practitioners involved.  Here's how: 

Specifiers

Information generated for commercial and institutional construction projects is rapidly growing in volume and complexity. MasterFormat 2004 Edition enables specifiers to produce construction project manuals with far more comprehensive and detailed information, which can reduce costly changes and delays during construction due to incomplete, misplaced, or totally missing information. 

The 1995 edition of MasterFormat doesn't provide enough locations for many areas that specifications need to address in covering the large amount of information associated with today's construction projects.  Over the years specifiers have tried to make do by placing data in project manuals where they could, using their individual judgment about locations, if locations could be found at all.  Also, many people have added non-standard information slots, without reference to the MasterFormat standard. With the greatly expanded MasterFormat 2004 Edition it's no longer necessary for specifiers to tack on non-standard divisions.  For example, the new edition provides for enhanced specifications about rapidly evolving data, communications, and automation systems for buildings.  And to help users handle future growth in construction project information in a systematic way, the new edition has six-digit section numbers and reserves 16 of its 50 division numbers. That allows for systematic expansion to cover new construction products and practices as they develop.

Architects/Engineers

MasterFormat 2004 Edition is designed to help architects better communicate their design vision through more detailed and comprehensive specifications.  And because the new edition provides standardized locations for many additional subjects that often weren't addressed in the specifications, architect-contractor conflict may be reduced because of fewer changes and delays during construction due to vague, misplaced, or absent information.       

For engineers, project delivery can be improved because of MasterFormat 2004 Edition's separate divisions enabling enhanced specifications for:

• Fire Suppression (Division 21)
• Plumbing (Division 22)
• Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (Division 23)
• Integrated Automation (Division 25 )
• Electrical (Division 26)
• Communications (Division 27)
• Electronic Safety and Security (Division 28)

Civil Engineers

Previously, MasterFormat didn't have the capacity to organize specifications for heavy civil construction; there only is a single Division 2 (Site Construction) in the 1995 edition. The new edition has a Site and Infrastructure subgroup of divisions (Divisions 31-35) covering transportation, utility, and marine construction.

Process Engineers

MasterFormat 2004 Edition includes the new Process Equipment subgroup of divisions (Divisions 40-48) for construction related to manufacturing, fluid treatment, and power generation as well as other specialized process engineering topics.

Contractors

By adding standardized locations for many specification sections that previous editions of MasterFormat didn't address, construction project bid documents developed according to the MasterFormat 2004 Edition can help contractors and subcontractors develop more accurate bids and project schedules. That could mean fewer cost overruns, mistakes, and delays. And because specifications and other information in project manuals will be more comprehensive and detailed, fewer delays, change orders, errors, and omissions should be encountered due to misplaced, incomplete, or missing information.

With the new MasterFormat making it easier to translate an owner's wishes into a building in which he/she is well satisfied and by helping projects go smoother, contractors could see increased client satisfaction, which can generate future business.

Suppliers

Because MasterFormat 2004 Edition fosters fuller and more accurate specifications, it should be easier for architects and specifiers to find and specify suppliers' products. The 2006 editions of both the Sweets and FirstSource building products catalogs will be organized according to the new MasterFormat.

MasterFormat 2004 Edition also should make it easier for suppliers to identify construction projects with their kinds of products specified in them. That includes smart products, such as those that detect non-visible roof leaks, because MasterFormat's new edition addresses instrumentation and control issues in every division. Emerging products and technologies also will be easier to specify because the new edition reserves space for addressing new materials and methods as they arise in future years.

In addition to construction materials, MasterFormat 2004 Edition could play a role in sales of post-construction products. It dedicates in every division an area for owners' specifications on a structure's maintenance and operation, such as cleaning carpet, getting new parts for equipment, and caring for lawns. 

Owners

Using MasterFormat 2004 Edition to develop commercial structures' specifications could result in an estimated 5 to 10 percent savings in construction costs. The new edition can cut costs because its much expanded content fosters fuller and more accurate specifications, which can reduce costly changes or delays in projects due to incomplete, misplaced, or missing information. For example, the new edition provides for enhanced specifications about buildings' data, communications, and integrated automation systems, which have seen dramatic advances since MasterFormat 1995. 

Building owners also may find that MasterFormat 2004 Edition works well as a system for maintaining project information, recording documents, warranty information, and other data critical to facility maintenance and operation.

Facility Managers

By aiding development of more comprehensive and detailed building specifications, MasterFormat 2004 Edition can provide facility managers more information to work with when the time comes to expand, retrofit, renovate, or repair a structure.  Also, the new edition dedicates within every division an area for owners' specifications on a structure's maintenance and operation.