home pageThe Big Picture, part 2by Sheldon Wolfe, RA, CSI, CCS, CCCA |
OCCS and MasterFormat |
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Last month we looked at some of the inconsistencies in MasterFormat, its flexible framework, which has served us well for many years, and ended with an introductory comment about the growing need for further development of its lower levels. This need comes from the evolving use of computers. Computers are wonderful tools, able to sort and find information in large databases, display three-dimensional objects, calculate material quantities and costs, and on and on. To do their work, though, they must receive information in a precise format; they are not yet able to infer the user’s intent from content or previous experience. In short, they need a single label for each item they are to process - a unique identifier. This identifier may be thought of as a part number - each item has its own part number, and each part number is associated with a single item. There are at least two ways to develop unique identifiers for all construction products and processes. The first is to simply take all of the items that are to be numbered, pull them out of a box, and assign a number to each. The items need not be arranged in any particular order, so Item 1 might be a specific type of nail, Item 2 might be the Empire State Building, Item 3 might be a particular composite panel from Panels-R-Us, and Item 156,903,887 might be another type of nail. This approach has certain advantages. It is open-ended, so as new items are created or discovered, they are simply assigned the next number, and existing items are unaffected. It has no categories, so the order in which items are added doesn’t matter. There is no agonizing over whether wood flooring belongs in Division 6 or Division 9. On the other hand, people could not use this method. It is easy to see that the identifiers would contain many digits, as the total number of items would be in the millions. Only a computer would be able to maintain the database necessary to identify an item’s part number, or the part associated with any number. The second approach is to start by dividing the items into categories, then dividing the categories into sub-categories, and so on. This is the logic used to create MasterFormat. The primary advantage of this approach is that people can use it. Beyond a certain point, we still need at least a table to find something, but the arrangement of items into logical groups makes it possible to do a certain amount of classifying without a computer. Despite its ease of use, this system has a few disadvantages. Until recently, though, they were of little consequence, especially when compared to its advantages. The original set of primary categories - Divisions - was based on a perception of construction at a particular time, by a particular group of people. It did not present a balanced view of construction products; primary categories and subcategories at any given level are not equivalent; it makes only a tentative attempt to subdivide categories; it does not anticipate future changes in construction products or processes. It is interesting to note, though, that it does allow expansion within its framework. MasterFormat specifically describes ways to use more than the five-digit numbers commonly accepted as the only possible numbers. Also, there is no decree that other Divisions cannot be added. It is quite likely that those who created MasterFormat expected that it would be kept up to date by adding new products - and categories - as the need became evident. © 2001 Sheldon Wolfe, RA, CSI,
CCS, CCCA, swolfe@bwbr.com |
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