FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Dan Merriman, 800-689-2900 ext. 4776 dmerriman@csinet.org List of Organizations Adopting MasterFormat's 2004 Edition Continues to Grow Top Professional Liability Underwriter Views New Edition Favorably ALEXANDRIA, VA (September 15, 2004) – Anticipating the full publication’s release, a number of major public and private construction organizations, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S. Navy Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), the Sweets construction products catalog, and Reed Construction Data’s First Source, have already decided they will make the transition to the groundbreaking 2004 edition of MasterFormat™, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) announced today. Also, one of the world's largest professional liability insurance underwriters, Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc., has found the enhancements in MasterFormat's new edition "are needed, are logical, and are beneficial to architects and engineers." MasterFormat, a product of CSI and Construction Specifications Canada, is the specifications-writing standard used for most of North America's commercial and institutional building design and construction projects. The complete 2004 edition, the most significant rewrite in MasterFormat's 40-year history, is due for release by year's-end. The Army's and Navy's decision to use MasterFormat’s new edition is in conjunction with an update of their Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS), the specifications used by all the armed services’ construction branches. Plans call for organizing them per MasterFormat 2004 by late 2005. The decision will eventually impact U.S. military construction projects worldwide worth approximately $22 billion per year. That includes construction of U.S. Air Force buildings, nearly all of which are built, under federal law, by USACE or NAVFAC. Also using the MasterFormat 2004-based Unified Facilities Guide Specifications will be the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The federal Department of Veterans Affairs is studying whether to do so. At the local government level, San Francisco/Oakland's Bay Area Rapid Transit System already has decided to use MasterFormat 2004. Several providers of master guide specifications systems also have decided to realign their products per MasterFormat's new edition. They include: ARCOM's MasterSpec® Building Systems Design's BSD SpecLink® Digicon Information Inc. Canada's National Master Guide Specifications, commonly known as the NMS (National Master Specification) Major construction product information firms already deciding to transition to MasterFormat 2004 include both McGraw-Hill Construction's Sweets construction products catalog (2006 edition) and Reed Construction Data’s First Source (2006 edition). The 4Specs.com directory of construction products manufacturers already has made the transition. "CSI obtained input from a large number of industry groups and MasterFormat users throughout the development of the 2004 edition. The fact that major construction organizations are already deciding to go with MasterFormat 2004, before the full product's release, is a confirmation that the new edition meets the needs of owners, designers, and constructors for an up-to-date information classification standard that addresses the scope and life cycle of today’s construction industry," said CSI Executive Director Karl F. Borgstrom, Ph.D. Professional liability insurance underwriter Victor O. Schinnerer & Company Inc. also has determined that the use of MasterFormat's 2004 edition will be beneficial to architects and engineers. "…any time there is a change there is a possibility of missed communications and missed communications can lead to professional liability claims. However, we see the change in the MasterFormat to be not really different from the AIA issuing a new edition of A201. A201 is the major communications tool between the owner, the architect as the owner's agent, and the contractor. When the 1997 edition was issued many architects and contractors ignored the changes and some claims resulted. In fact, we still find architects and contractors who do not understand their duties under A201. So it is likely to be with MasterFormat 2004. There will be a learning curve and problems are bound to surface. For the most part, however, we feel that the changes are needed, are logical, and are beneficial to architects and engineers," wrote Frank Musica, Assoc. AIA, a risk management specialist at Victor O. Schinnerer & Company, Inc. Functioning as the "Dewey Decimal System" for construction information, MasterFormat is divided into divisions, and each division is composed of sections. The 2004 edition has additional divisions and many more sections. That enables specifications, the written instructions for construction projects, to address spectacular advances in construction technology that have emerged since the 1995 edition. The new edition also enables specifications to better address building owners' evolving construction priorities such as security, life safety, and environmentally responsible facilities. The 2004 edition's new divisions and sections also allow MasterFormat to now be used for writing specifications for heavy civil and process engineering construction projects such as dams, bridges, factories, and power plants. The new MasterFormat’s section numbers and their titles are downloadable at no charge from CSI’s website at www.csinet.org/masterformat. About CSI As the integrator for all disciplines involved in nonresidential construction (architects, specifiers, engineers, contractors, suppliers, owners), the Construction Specifications Institute is an association providing technical information and products, common organizational systems for construction information, continuing education, and product shows to continuously advancethe process of delivering construction projects. For more information, visit www.csinet.org or call 800-689-2900.