History
In March 2001, the Secretary of Defense mandated the Department of Defense (DoD) for all military services to unify their specifications into one database. The Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS)The Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) serve as the central database for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC), and Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC). A joint effort by these Tri-Services branches, UFGS provides construction specifications used in conjunction with SpecsIntact software Master is the primary database for all three agencies and can be displayed through the SpecsIntact Explorer.
UFGS Master
The UFGS Master is prepared by the Government agencies (Army, Navy, and Air Force) and is consistent with the Construction Specification Institutes's (CSISpecsIntact Section formatting conforms to the Construction Specifications Institute’s (CSI) format) current MasterFormat™MasterFormat is used throughout the construction industry to format specifications for construction contract documents. The purpose of this format is to assist the user to organize information into distinct groups when creating contract documents, and to assist the user searching for specific information in consistent locations. The information contained in MasterFormat is organized in a standardized outline format within 50 Divisions (16 Divisions pre-2004). Each Division is subdivided into a number of Sections Edition. The UFGS Master consists of unified and agency-specific Guide Specifications used in preparing a Job by providing the ability to produce customized specifications.
Refer to the Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) Format Standard (UFC 1-300-02).
Local Masters
MasterA group of standard Government agency (Master) Guide Specifications used in the preparation of a Job other than the UFGS are referred to as a Local MasterA Master that is specific to a District, Region, or AE Firm that contains unique Sections that cannot be found in the Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) Master, but may also be called Office Masters, Center Masters, District Masters, or Regional Masters.
A new Local Master can be created through the SI Explorer's New Master command and should follow the Unified Facilities Criteria's Unified Facilities Guide Specifications (UFGS) Format Standard, UFC 1-300-02. The UFGS Section TemplateIs an outline to be used as a guide in creating new specifications. The option to create Section templates on the Tools Menu or through Add Sections should be used to create unique section outlines, not new sections. New sections can be created for a Job or local Master. Revisions should not be used during the creation of a new Section from a Section Template. should be used to create unique Sections for a Local Master. Sections from any Master can be added to a Job or other Local Masters by the Add Sections command, or by using either the copy (Ctrl+C) and Paste (Ctrl+V) or the drag-and-drop functions in the SI Explorer. A UFGS Section Template is available when creating a unique Section by the Add Section command and selecting the TemplatesA Template is an outline that provides examples of how text should be entered in SpecsIntact format when creating a new Section tab.
Additional Learning Tools
When preparing a Master specification for the UFGS, watch the Master Preparation eLearning module within Chapter 7 - Master Preparation.
Users are encouraged to visit the SpecsIntact Website's Support & Help Center for access to all of our User Tools, including eLearning (video tutorials), printable Guides, a Knowledge Base containing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), Technical Notes and Release Notes, and Web-Based Help.