I haven’t read or seen the Harry Potter series, but I remember that, as a 9- or 10-year-old kid playing “gangsters” with a friend, we assigned the number 1111-1/4 to a famous inmate of our own private prison…there’s a fascination in fractions, nostalgically maintained by the 3 5/8-inch steel stud, and by CMU.
Hi folks,
This subject brings up for discuss the concepts of broadscope, mediumscope and narrowscope sections. This is not new to MasterFormat 2004. Gypsum Board Assemblies in MF 95 can include metal studs, gypsum board, and insulation. And yes, a roofing section can include the products, gypsum board, insulation, roofing membrane, and gravel.
It seems that some firms (specifiers) like broadscope sections to reduce the size of their project manuals, while others like narrowscope sections that make office masters easier to incorporate into a project manual with little editing. Both are fine and can be mixed in the same project manual, however care must be taken not to repeat subject matter.
BTW, internally McGraw-Hill had a Division 99 for Other Stuff. Personally, I feel Division 10 is for Small Other Stuff and Division 13 is for Large Other Stuff.
Doug, maybe this example will help with understanding of work results. Beer in my refrigerator is a consumerable product. Beer at the factory is a work result of the combination of multiple products; mountain spring water, choice hops, select barley, yeast, and rice. After care and expert effort is applied by the master brewer to the products the results of his/her work is “beer.” Oh yea, bottling is also involved in the work result.
Therefore, beer can be both a product and a work result depending on timing. Gypsum board is a lot like beer except less tasty. It can be a product in a broadscope section and a work result in a narrowscope section.
Dennis
Dennis,
Are the terms broadscope, mediumscope and narrowscope returning to MasterFormat 2004? They were deleted in MasterFormat 1995 in favor of Level 1, Level 2, etc.
David: just remember (from your beer example) that gysum is used in many household products, including Beer!
“Division 10 is for Small Other Stuff and Division 13 is for Large Other Stuff.” LOL! Thanks, Dennis, for lightening up MF 2004 a bit.
(However, including “rice” as a beer ingredient leads me to think you’ve been reading the fine print on too many Budweiser labels…as a specifier, you’re no doubt aware that it doesn’t comply with one of the oldest quality standards still in existence, the German purity law…)
The analogy to beer is fun but does it really apply to building systems? I dont think so. Were not asked to duplicate the beer but simply to enjoy it while drinking it. For a building system, were asking the fabricator, supplier, sub and GC to duplicate as closely as possible in the field what we show on paper and describe in the specs.
All the discussions on broadscope, mediumscope and narrowscope sections, and work results is sophistry, and is of little use to the users.
Lets not forget that the specs are first and foremost a communication tool. If a fabricator, supplier, sub and GC has to guess as to the location of a building product (now lets see, is it in Division 6, 7 or 9? Hold it, it could also be in 5.), then we are missing the point and we shouldnt complain that contractors dont read our specs.