Since its inception in 1948, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) has focused on improving and organizing construction documents and communication within the construction industry. CSI's primary focus has been in the area of information classification and formats. The format documents (MasterFormat™, UniFormat ™, SectionFormat™, and PageFormat™) and principles outlined in The Project Resource Manual - CSI Manual of Practice were developed by CSI members and have become industry standards followed by the North American building industry for organizing project manuals, product data, cost estimates, and for other construction-related applications. CSI is committed to the maintenance and ongoing improvement of these standards to meet the changing needs of the construction industry; license fees help to support that effort and guarantee their continuing availability and usefulness.
CSI endeavors to safeguard the efforts of its members and others who have contributed to the development of its documents and standards by protecting its intellectual property rights. To help do so and also promote the use of its formats and standards, CSI has established three categories of use for MasterFormat, with separate license terms for each:
- Organization Internal Use/Individual Use - Use of MasterFormat for the purpose of organizing specifications or project manuals, drawing details, or cost estimates, communicating, filing, or organizing other construction project information, or for any internal or project-driven information applications within an organization or to facilitate communications between participants on construction projects, or by an individual user. There is no fee for this use.
- Public Use - Public Use is the presentation or other use of MasterFormat for the purpose of education or training, in any format – live, recorded, web, or other – provided by a university or other non-profit institution. There is no fee for this use, however a license is required.
- Proprietary Use - Proprietary (commercial) Use of MasterFormat is any presentation (including online and educational presentations), or sale of the numbers and titles, any derivation of the numbers and titles, or the application of the numbers and titles in a derivative product or resource that generates revenue. “Revenue” is not limited to direct financial gains, and may also include indirect gains that may accrue from such an application, such as providing a free service or application that helps to market or position an organization or individual by association. A license is required and there may be a fee for this use.
Further explanation of these use categories and their associated terms can be found in the CSI MasterFormat Terms of Use.
Also available are CSI MasterFormat Proprietary Use and the CSI MasterFormat License Template that address licensing for Public and Proprietary(commercial) uses as defined in the MasterFormat Terms of Use.
For questions or to apply for a license, contact CSI at csi@csinet.org or 800-689-2900.
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