Six years after MasterFormat 2004 was issued, there are still segments of the building industry clinging to outdated versions of MasterFormat. This became clear last night when I made a presentation about MasterFormat to the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE). I told them that now is the time to move ahead. The updated version of MasterFormat has reached critical mass in the construction industry. Continuing to use an older version gives the appearance that a firm is behind the times and not keeping up with best industry practices.
CSI has instituted a program for adding or revising section numbers and titles on an ongoing basis. There have been so many incremental changes in the past six ears that an updated version of MasterFormat -- The Book has been recently issued. Most of the book's content is also available at www.masterformat.com.
In 2004, as a member of the MasterFormat Implementation Task Team, I created a slide show explaining how to use MasterFormat. I have now update the Powerpoint presentation to reflect recent changes. I will be pleased to share the slide show with anyone wanting to use it for training purposes. (The presentation is optimized for use with plumbing designers, but can be readily modified for other construction industry segments.) Contact info@chusid.com.
Many of the updates since 2004 are due to the development of new building products and construction techniques that did not fit into existing MasterFormat sections. For example, Chusid Associates initiated the following new sections on behalf of our clients:
03 35 33 Polished Concrete Finishing
03 48 63 Precast Pre-Framed Concrete Panels
We were also able to get the sections titled "Portland Cement Plaster" renamed to "Cement Plaster", a change that was important to a client that makes a hydraulic cement plaster that does not contain portland cement.
I have also written an article on how to use MasterFormat in building product marketing, and will be glad to send it to anyone who wants a copy. Email info@chusid.com.