ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) has released the first draft of a revision to the 1998 version of UniFormat for public comment. The construction community is invited to comment on the draft.

According to CSI, UniFormat provides a uniform classification system for organizing construction information into a standard order, based around functional elements. Functional elements, often referred to as systems or assemblies, are major components common to most structures that perform a given function regardless of the construction method or materials used to achieve that function. Because the functional element classifications provided by UniFormat are standardized, users can easily understand and compare project information across project types or options. The use of UniFormat can also provide consistent comparable data across an entire building life cycle. The use of UniFormat’s elemental framework reduces the time and cost of evaluating alternatives in the early design stages of a project, ensuring faster and more accurate economic analysis of alternative design decisions.

CSI plans to publish a revised version of UniFormat close to the end of 2008, after the review comments have been received and analyzed by the task team and others involved in the process. This revised version of UniFormat will be coordinated with MasterFormat 2004, but will only cover building construction topics. The following year, the task team will work to expand UniFormat subject matter to cover all types of construction.

The draft can be accessed by visiting www.csinet.org/uniformat (or go to www.csinet.org, click “Standards & Formats” and then click “UniFormat”). Comment on this draft by sending an e-mail to Greg Ceton, CSI technical program manager (GCeton@csinet.org) or by visiting the CSI Forums at www.csinet.org and posting a comment in the UniFormat Forum. The public review and comment period will remain open until June 15, 2008.

Publication date:04/21/2008