Master format is the standard for writing specifications in most commercial building design and construction projects in North America, responsible for organizing data about construction requirements, products, and activities. This organization of information facilitates communication among various stakeholders including architects, contractors, suppliers, and building owners.
Key Insights
- Master format consists of two main groups: procurement and contracting requirements, and specifications. These groups allow for specificity in terms of the project's needs and the methods to achieve these needs.
- The specifications group consists of five sections: general requirements, facility construction subgroup, facility services, site and infrastructure subgroup, and process equipment subgroups. Each of these sections is further divided for a detailed breakdown of requirements.
- Following the Construction Specifications Institute's Master Format Specifications Guidelines, specifications are organized into 48 different divisions covering all aspects of the construction industry. This comprehensive organization helps ensure clarity and uniformity in construction standards.
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Let's begin our discussion about project specifications. What we're going to be talking about is MasterFormat, and MasterFormat is the standard for specification writing used in most commercial building design and construction projects in North America. MasterFormat lists titles and section numbers for organizing data about construction requirements, products, and activities.
By standardizing such information, MasterFormat facilitates communication among architects, specifiers, contractors, and suppliers, which helps them meet building owners’ requirements, timelines, and budgets. MasterFormat has two primary groups: one group for procurement and contracting requirements, and another for specifications. Within the procurement and contracting requirements group is Division 00, which addresses procurement and contracting requirements.
Within the specifications group, there are five subgroups: General Requirements, Facility Construction, Facility Services, Site and Infrastructure, and Process Equipment. Each subgroup contains multiple divisions. For example, within General Requirements is the General Requirements division.
Within Facility Construction, there are divisions such as Concrete, Masonry, Metals, Wood, and so on. Facility Services includes divisions for Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical, and related systems. The Site and Infrastructure subgroup includes divisions for Earthwork, Utilities, and Transportation, while the Process Equipment subgroup includes divisions for specialized systems like Material Handling or Process Heating and Cooling.
So, let's start at the top and work our way down. MasterFormat organizes information into 50 divisions.
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The first division, Division 00, is the Procurement and Contracting Requirements section. This includes sections on Solicitation, Instructions for Procurement, Available Information on the Project, Procurement Forms and Supplements, Contracting Forms and Supplements, Project Forms, Conditions of the Contract, and any Revisions, Clarifications, and Modifications. Then there's Division 01, which is General Requirements.
I’m not going to go through everything here because I'm providing you a copy of this PDF. But as you can see, it includes sections such as Vehicular Access and Parking, Temporary Facilities and Controls. These divisions are further broken down into detailed subsections.
There are sections about Existing Conditions and Concrete. These include specifications about how to maintain, form, and reinforce concrete. These are the actual specs that appear in the construction documentation.
Masonry, Metals, Woods, Plastics and Composites, Thermal and Moisture Protection, Openings, Finishes, Specialties, Equipment, Furnishings, Special Construction, Conveying Equipment, Fire Suppression, Plumbing, Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Integrated Automation, Electrical, Communications, and Electronic Safety are also included. The list continues with Earthwork, Exterior Improvements, Utilities, Transportation, Waterway and Marine Construction, Process Interconnections, Material Processing and Handling Equipment, Process Heating, Cooling, and Drying Equipment. Each division addresses a different component of the construction industry. You will notice that in some places there are gaps—these are reserved for future divisions.
Again, we have the Site and Infrastructure subgroup. Underneath that, we have several divisions. In the Facility Services subgroup, we have these divisions over here as well.
So again, this is how specifications are organized. They’re structured according to the Construction Specifications Institute’s MasterFormat specification guidelines. This is the big overview, and we’ll begin exploring actual specification content in just a moment.
