Standards are needed to improve coordination and facilitate communication among all workers in the construction project, including architects, suppliers, engineers, project managers and energy consultants. The CSI MasterFormat is the standard maverick which helps everyone stay on budget, develop timelines, meet deadlines and meet building owner’s requirements.

It’s also important for you to realize that with the automation increase in the construction industry, the CSI MasterFormat is vital to achieve meaningful interoperability. It helps every discipline involved in the design, building and operations.

The MasterFormat also helps contractors and architects work on additions in the future and renovations. The data can be easily retrieved. And with the increased use of building information modeling (BIM), the MasterFormat is a good fit. More and more, modeling software systems are using MasterFormat’s format for BIM integration.

Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) are summary documents that provide information about the hazards of a product and advice about safety precautions. SDSs are usually written by the manufacturer or supplier of the product.

SDSs provide more detailed hazard information about the product than the label. They are an important resource for workplaces and workers to help you learn more about the product(s) used. Use this information to identify the hazards of the products you use and to protect yourself from those hazards, including safe handling and emergency measures.

SDSs tell users what the hazards of the product are, how to use the product safely, what to expect if the recommendations are not followed, how to recognize symptoms of exposure, and what to do if emergencies occur.