CSI Dynamic Standards FAQ

What we’re doing:

CSI’s mission is to advance building information and education of project teams. And CSI’s broadest end result is that AECO professionals have state-of-the-art knowledge of building information, project delivery, and specifications.
In service of its mission, CSI is combining its standards into CSI Dynamic StandardsSM (CDS), modernizing how standards are delivered, maintained, and used.

CDS replaces static editions with an authorized, version-aware digital system that helps teams:

  • Stay aligned with the correct edition at each project milestone.
  • Use built-in crosswalks to connect MasterFormat, UniFormat, and OmniClass.
  • Reduce confusion that leads to rework, RFIs, and coordination gaps.
  • Benefit from more frequent updates—across all standards—to keep pace with industry demand.
Historically, access came through purchased publications and electronic formats, on-line lookups via the CSI website, and licensed tools for individuals. So prevalent was this access over decades that many practitioners experienced and interpreted the standards as “free,” especially at the firm level. CSI could have been clearer about the boundaries and permissions. Going forward, CSI Dynamic Standards provides a clear firm-wide subscription path tied to an always-current, version-aware system.
CSI standards (MasterFormat, UniFormat, and OmniClass) are used by the industry: specifiers, owners and facility managers, building product reps and manufacturers, architecture and engineering firms, construction firms (general contractors and subcontractors), and software companies and platforms nationally and internationally.
 

Why:

1) The industry wants faster updates.

Users have consistently told CSI that changes to standards are too infrequent, forcing firms to create their own workarounds when they would prefer to work with CSI to update. CDS is targeting changes annually to start, with the goal of quarterly updates once the existing backlog of proposals has cleared the system. CDS is built to support regular releases, so teams aren’t waiting years for updates or stuck arguing over edition differences. We’re funding the ability to keep standards current on a more frequent cadence. Make no mistake, CSI remains the owner of the standards themselves and is responsible for the maintenance and governance of the standards.

2) The industry asked for connected standards.
For years, CSI has heard the same request: connect MasterFormat, UniFormat, and OmniClass and provide lookbacks to earlier versions. That level of interoperability is difficult (or impossible) to deliver in print, and painful to manage in spreadsheets. CDS makes these connections practical and usable.

3) Clarity reduces rework.
CSI Dynamic Standards’ version-aware access, change history and crosswalk features help eliminate confusion in project specifications by offering clear and traceable records updates.
  • With version-aware access, everyone involved has the latest information which helps to reduce inconsistencies in project specifications.
  • Version history makes it easy to follow edits within MasterFormat, UniFormat, and OmniClass over a period of time, promoting transparency and accountability.
  • Proper use of MasterFormat classification systems can reduce some types of RFIs and the associated addenda and scope/coordination gaps
  • The crosswalk capabilities allow effortless integration and comparison between other OmniClass tables, keeping specifications consistent and coherent.
Together, these features improve clarity, limit mistakes, and foster better communication among those relying on output documents, potentially reducing the numbers of RFIs, addenda, and coordination gaps that can occur when using source documents created under a mixture of previous MasterFormat versions.

FAQs

1) I have been using MasterFormat in my specs. Do I now have to pay for a license?
If you previously purchased or licensed a MasterFormat edition, you can continue using that edition under its existing license. If you need MasterFormat 2026+, including version-aware lookup, change history, and crosswalks, you’ll need access to CSI Dynamic Standards. To reduce confusion, CSI Dynamic Standards distinguishes between (1) access for normal project work (writing specs and issuing project deliverables) and (2) commercial licensing for organizations that embed or distribute CSI standards content inside enterprise products, platforms, or reusable libraries. And, licenses now apply to the entire firm, large or small.

2) I bought MasterFormat. Do I now have to pay for a new license?
You don’t have to “rebuy” a license if your organization bought MasterFormat for all the relevant users in your organization, and you are using the standards consistent with the license agreement. 
You’ll need to buy a subscription to CDS if:
  • You want MasterFormat 2026 or updated versions of OmniClass and UniFormat as they are released.
  • You want the lookback or crosswalk tools.
  • You want regular and more frequent updates to the standards.
  • You want to reduce the risks of staying with older editions—outdated section numbers/titles or classifications can lead to coordination errors, RFIs, rework, and addenda as teams and partners move to newer versions.
  • You have others in your firm besides you that are using MasterFormat, UniFormat, or OmniClass who have not purchased their own copies (and licenses) previously.
CDS can save time when it comes to others asking you to take your time to look up numbers, titles, or relationships for them.
IMPORTANT: CDS licenses cover all users in your firm, whereas past licenses were for individuals. 

3) Do I have to pay to write a spec?
No. CSI’s intent is not to charge individual specifiers simply to write project specifications, as has always been the case. The confusion came from an early webpage that didn’t clearly separate everyday project use from commercial redistribution/embedded use. Everyday project use includes using CSI numbers/titles/classifications as part of delivering a project (specs, drawings, schedules, internal coordination), within your firm’s work product for that project.
MasterFormat® has been a copyrighted CSI publication for decades, historically accessed by purchasing the book/PDF (with standard “no reproduction/distribution” restrictions), not treated as unrestricted public content. By at least 2010, MasterFormat editions explicitly directed anyone using the numbers/titles in commercial applications, educational programs, or publications to obtain a copyright license, and CSI later formalized clearer “Terms of Use” (2013) and digital EULAs (2016–2020) that permit project-delivery use while restricting redistribution, downloading/sharing beyond the licensed user(s). CDS licenses cover all users in your firm, whereas past licenses were for individuals. 

4) I’m an independent specifier. How does CSI Dynamic Standards licensing work for me?
CSI Dynamic Standards pricing is based on a firm’s revenue, regardless of team size, with member1 pricing tiers available for firms with $10MM or less in annual revenue. The pricing is available on https://theconstructionstandard.com, and if you are a CSI member,  login with your CSI member email address to receive member pricing. CDS licenses cover all users in your firm, whereas past licenses were for individuals. 
1Member pricing is for active students and professionals: Professional Member, Emerging Professional, Distinguished Member, Lifetime Member, and Student Member. Pricing tiers available at https://www.theconstructionstandard.com.

5) How does this affect MasterSpec, RIB SpecLink, and other enterprise tools/platforms?
Spec-writing tools (MasterSpec, RIB SpecLink, etc.) that use CSI standards within their platforms must purchase a license. That platform license covers the standards features inside the tool and cannot be sub-licensed to a third party. If an organization uses CSI Standards or reproduces/embeds CSI identifiers outside the platform (exports, shared templates, deliverables, other systems), it would necessitate a CSI Dynamic Standards organizational license for that broader use. if the platform is not licensed, that too would necessitate a license for the platform. 

6) What’s changing with online access going forward?
CSI plans to provide clearer, digital, and interactive access options. For non-subscribers, a limited lookup of MasterFormat numbers and titles will be available. Subscribers to CSI Dynamic Standards will have detailed lookup and lookbacks for MasterFormat 2026 and earlier versions. This format enables CSI to upgrade standards much more frequently and see that revisions automatically flow across standards.

7) What happens to printed/PDF access?
If you previously purchased/licensed a printed or PDF edition of MasterFormat, you may continue using that edition under its existing license. CSI Dynamic Standards adds capabilities that static editions can’t provide, including version-aware lookup, change history, and lookbacks/links to prior versions, so teams can stay aligned as standards evolve. Going forward, CSI’s primary delivery model will be digital through CSI Dynamic Standards; static media will not be the ongoing distribution format.

8) Is MasterFormat “open source”?
No. MasterFormat®, UniFormat®, and OmniClass® are copyrighted works identified by registered trademarks. CSI, as owner of all three, does not identify copyrighted works or trademarks as “open source.” The right to use CSI’s copyrighted work is granted through licenses. CSI protects the standards, including the time and effort used by members and other stakeholders to develop them, and to keep them reliable and consistent for the industry.

9) Has MasterFormat historically been “free to use”?
In the past, single practitioners and groups of specifiers within a design professional’s studio paid for use of the copyright by purchasing a copy of MasterFormat, the expectation being that each specifier would maintain the latest copy of MasterFormat at their desk to comply with copyright requirements stated on the cover of the standard. CDS licenses cover all users in your firm, whereas past licenses were for individuals.
MasterFormat® has been a copyrighted CSI publication for decades, historically accessed by purchasing the book/PDF (with standard “no reproduction/distribution” restrictions), and not treated as unrestricted public content. By at least 2010, MasterFormat editions explicitly directed anyone using the numbers/titles in commercial applications, educational programs, or publications to obtain a copyright license, and CSI later formalized clearer “Terms of Use” (2013) and digital EULAs (2016–2020) that permit project-delivery use while restricting redistribution, downloading/sharing beyond the licensed user(s).

10) What counts as “commercial use” that may require a separate license?
Commercial use means embedding or distributing CSI numbers, titles, or classifications as part of a product, platform, reusable library/template set, publication, or paid service, especially when others rely on CSI identifiers for search, navigation, comparison, or the exchange of information. Examples include software platforms, paid template libraries, and manufacturer/distributor catalogs (PIM/eCatalogs and BIM content) distributed broadly.

11) What are the most common compliance issues CSI sees?
Most issues are not with individual specifiers. The common gaps are:
  • Missing or incorrect attribution (which is easy to fix), and/or
  • Individuals or entities using all or parts of a CSI copyrighted work without entering into a license.

12) What does “proper attribution” look like (in plain terms)?
Using CSI-provided language that identifies to the public the CSI Trademark or copyright and the basis for that use, especially in published or distributed materials, templates, libraries, platforms, or marketing collateral. Many licensed users already do this (e.g., “The trademark MasterFormat® and copyrighted work MasterFormat® are used under license from The Construction Specifications Institute, Inc. (CSI)”).