by seaccs » Fri Nov 03, 2017 4:18 pm
The information you're getting from Kaplan is incorrect.
CSI's MasterFormat has Groups, Subgroups, Divisions and Sections. There are two groups: Procurement and Contracting Requirements Group (contains Division 00), and Specifications Group (contains Divisions 01-49). The Specifications Group is divided into five Subgroups: General Requirements Subgroup (Division 01), Facility Construction Subgroup (Divisions 02-19), Facility Services Subgroup (Divisions 20-29), Site and Infrastructure Subgroup (Divisions 30-39), and Process Equipment Subgroup (Divisions 40-49).
Divisions are the top level in the hierarchy of section numbering and are the first two digits of the section's number. Levels 2-4 are the next numbers that together identify specific work results (i.e. a section). Specification sections are at a minimum 6 digits, and the 7th and 8th may be included if necessary. Not all sections will include numbering to all levels. Each level is two digits so your example of 050170.91 is simply just showing all 4 levels.
For Parts, you need to understand that MasterFormat doesn't govern how a specification is written. It only addresses where it is located/what it is numbered. CSI's SectionFormat provides a uniform approach to organizing specification text. SectionFormat's structure is divided into three Parts: Part 1 - General, Part 2 - Products, and Part 3 - Execution. Further, each Part contains one or more articles, each article contains one or more paragraphs, each paragraph may contain subparagraphs as needed.
So to recap:
MasterFormat:
Group > Subgroup > Division > Section
Section number = Level 1 (Division), Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4 if necessary ... 11 22 33(.44)
SectionFormat:
Part 1 - General, Part 2 - Products, Part 3 - Execution.
Each Part contains one or more Articles, each Article contains one or more Paragraphs, each Paragraph may contain one or more subparagraphs as needed.
Find any specification section and you should see all of these things represented.