The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), Bethesda, Md., recently submitted a proposal to add an Integrated Building Systems division to the MasterFormat system published by the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), Alexandria, Va.
NECA has submitted the proposal in an attempt to:
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Update Division 16 to reflect current technology, equipment, and systems.
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Expand Division 16 by adding electrical/electronic systems that are presently located in other divisions.
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Change the name of Division 16 to “Integrated Building Systems” to reflect its expanded content and purpose.
The National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA), Cedar Rapids, Iowa, submitted a rival proposal that recommends splitting off telecommunications, local area networks, sound-video, and other types of low-voltage wiring into a new, separate Division 17 to keep pace with today's demanding technology requirements.
MasterFormat is a paper- and software-based system. It is a master list of numbers and titles that consulting engineers use to organize information about construction requirements, products, and activities into a standard sequence. It is updated every seven years.