NSCA announced that, in partnership with Hall Architects, the organization will launch educational programs beginning this month for CSI MasterFormat 2004. Dennis Hall of Hall Architects was Chairman of the MasterFormat Expansion Task Team (MFETT) alongside Chuck Wilson, NSCA Executive Director and chairman of the Facility Services Workgroup. NSCA will provide four phases of educational offerings in its MasterFormat Program, and they have already begun accrediting five instructors who will be available for custom training programs.

Hall and Wilson have a wealth of knowledge about the effects MF04 will have on individual companies and the industry as a whole. “It has impact upon everyone, not just contractors and consultants,” Hall emphasized. “The goal of the MasterFormat 04 revision was to have a positive impact upon the entire building process. So rather than thinking about buildings as objects that we just build and walk away from, the plan was to think about organizing construction information that can be used throughout the life of the facility.”

That’s the sort of long-term approach they are taking for this program, which concentrates on MF04 divisions 25, 27 and 28, those most pertaining to the electronic systems industry. The resources and training will be made available through NSCA’s A/E Toolkit, which also provides other tools and information for the architect and engineering community.

The first phase of the MasterFormat Program, expected to be complete at the end of September, consists of the development of FAQs on topics ranging from basic explanations of MF04 to very specific changes present in divisions 25, 27 and 28. Also in development is a “mini manual” which will provide MasterFormat history and the revision’s effects on the commercial electronics industry.

Phase two will result in MF04 guide specifications as reference points to all of those in the industry. The guide specifications will provide members with the framework to develop and/or respond to specifications in a standardized format. The guide specifications will not, however, provide any “boiler plate” language or address the product portion (Part 2) of a specification. In working with the NSCA Consultants’ Council, NSCA purposely steered this project away from the MasterSpec portion of specifications. Phase three will be a MasterFormat Program Webinar series and accompanying study guides tailored to professionals within the commercial electronic systems industry, available late this fall.

The fourth phase of the MasterFormat program, custom on-site training for companies, is available to build into your training schedule now. Dennis Hall and NSCA’s five accredited instructors will be available to conduct training according to the needs of interested parties.

A significant portion of the funding for the new MasterFormat Program was provided by the NSCA Education Foundation.