Before the 1960s, standard specifications formats didn’t exist. Each architectural, engineering, and contracting firm, as well as every government agency, had its own organizational system. That resulted in confusion and miscommunication among everyone involved in delivering construction projects, which led to costly delays, errors, and omissions.

In 1962, CSI developed the concept of divisions, and sections within each division, to standardize information in construction project manuals.  One year later the 16-division “CSI Format for Building Specifications” was announced. It eventually evolved to become MasterFormat™.