Photo courtesy Kristine Archer

With CSC ending support for all previous editions, the time to switch to the 2004 edition of MasterFormat has come.

As of January 2010, CSC and the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) will no longer license or support MasterFormat 1995. The decision was made during meetings at the CSI Annual Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., last month.

Long recognized as the North American design/construction industry's standard for organizing project manuals and cost information, MasterFormat was overhauled in 2004. These significant updates included an expanded structure that increased the number of divisions and replaced a five-digit system with six. This expansion was intended to accommodate new technologies and building practices.

"Before 2004, the construction industry was divided into 16 basic divisions of work," explained Thomas Dunbar, FCSC, RSW, CSC's immediate past-president. "However, we were constantly seeing project manuals being published with 17 or more divisions because the system was too small for the subject matter being forced into it."

In both Canada and the United States, many high-profile public agencies, companies, design/engineering firms, and consultants have long switched to the current, 50-division edition of the resource. However, some stragglers have yet to make the transition. Two versions of MasterFormat co-existing over the last few years has made it difficult to correctly classify work results and communicate project information.

The continued use of outdated versions hinders industry standardization and works contrary to interoperability, Dunbar told Construction Canada Online.

Both CSC and CSI are now collaborating to convey the decision to the industry, and promote the benefits of using the current edition.

"In Canada, we're now at the stage when almost all major product information and commercial construction specification system suppliers are not only delivering their materials referenced to the most current version of MasterFormat, but are also actively considering dropping any reference to previous versions," Dunbar said. "For example, the National Master Specification has been using only the newer reference numbers in its sections for four years."

"Those design professionals who have not already switched to the new numbering system must constantly change numbers on resource materials to align with their own older system. This surely has to be a continuous drain on time and resources that could easily be alleviated by updating and becoming familiar with the more current system," he continued.

For more information on the current edition of MasterFormat, visit www.spex.ca or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it CSC's national office.