The short answer
MasterFormat is a system of numbers and titles for organizing construction information, published jointly by Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) and the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). It says where a topic goes, not what to write about it. CSI puts it plainly: “MasterFormat does not contain specifications or specification templates.”
The National Master Specification (NMS) is a master specification: the actual clauses a design team copies and edits, owned by the National Research Council of Canada and published in English and French. Its construction sections are numbered and named with MasterFormat.
So when a Canadian specification lists section 03 30 00, MasterFormat supplies the number and the slot, Cast-in-Place Concrete, and the NMS supplies the text of the section.
Side by side
| MasterFormat | National Master Specification | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Numbers and titles for organizing construction information | Master specification sections, ready to edit |
| Who publishes it | CSC and CSI | National Research Council of Canada |
| Contains specification text | No | Yes |
| Official French text | None, since it holds no specification text | Every section, as the Devis directeur national |
| Used for | Filing any project’s documents and specifications | Writing the specification for a project in Canada |
How the numbering works
MasterFormat groups construction work into 50 divisions. It expanded in 2004 from the old 16 divisions to the current structure, which is why specifiers who started before then still remember concrete as Division 3 with a single digit.
An NMS section number starts with the two-digit division, followed by a four- or six-digit number depending on how specific the topic is:
| Number | English title | French title |
|---|---|---|
| 02 41 16 | Structure Demolition | Démolition de structures |
| 03 30 00 | Cast-in-Place Concrete | Béton coulé en place |
| 05 50 00 | Metal Fabrications | Ouvrages métalliques |
| 22 10 10 | Plumbing Pumps | Plomberie - Pompes |
| 31 23 16.26 | Rock Removal | Excavation dans le roc |
| 33 05 16 | Maintenance Holes and Catch Basin Structures | Regards de visite et bouches d’égout |
| 04 03 43.16 | Period Stone Replacing | Ouvrages d’époque - Remplacement de pierres |
The titles are as we hold them in our National Master Specification title term base. The number is the same in both languages, which is what makes a bilingual specification checkable: a reviewer who reads only one language can still match the French section to the English one, number by number.
The other formats the NMS uses
MasterFormat is not the only system inside the NMS. The NRC’s development guide lists four:
- MasterFormat for the numbering and naming of prescriptive sections, the ones that say which products to use and how to install them.
- UniFormat for the performance sections used in design-build, which describe what a building element must achieve rather than how to build it. These carry codes like B2010, Exterior Walls / Murs extérieurs, or D3040, HVAC Distribution / CVCA - Réseaux de distribution. The NMS performance package has 55 of them.
- SectionFormat for the inside of each section: Part 1 General, Part 2 Products, Part 3 Execution.
- PageFormat for the page layout publishers apply.
Why this matters in translation
The number is the anchor. A French specification keeps every section number, part and article exactly as issued, so the two languages can be compared line by line. A translation that renumbers, merges or splits articles breaks that, and a reviewer loses the one reference both versions share.
The titles are already set. Because the NMS is published in both languages, every standard section title has an official French version. A table of contents with titles translated freshly, even correctly, will not match the drawing references and the official text, and federal reviewers notice. Our list of 794 National Master Specification section titles in English and French is the reference we work from.
MasterFormat alone does not give you French text. A specification numbered in MasterFormat but written from scratch, without the NMS, has no official French to fall back on. Every clause needs translating, and the terms need a term base so that the specification, the drawings and the addenda use the same names. When a specification is built on the NMS, the standard text comes back in the official French and only your team’s edits need a translator, which is also what we quote.
For the basics of the master specification itself, read What is the National Master Specification?, or see how we handle National Master Specification translation.
Common questions
Is the NMS based on MasterFormat? Its prescriptive construction sections are numbered and named with MasterFormat, inside MasterFormat’s 50-division framework. Its performance sections use UniFormat.
Does MasterFormat exist in French? MasterFormat itself is a numbering and titling system. In Canadian practice, the French titles a reviewer checks against are the official titles of the NMS, the Devis directeur national.
Can a specification follow MasterFormat without the NMS? Yes. Many private and provincial specifications use MasterFormat numbering with their own text. They do not come with an official French version, so the whole text has to be translated.
Have a specification package to translate? Send it for a quote within one business day.
Sources: National Research Council Canada, NMS user’s guide and development guide (nrc.canada.ca); CSI MasterFormat FAQ (csiresources.org); Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, National Master Specification (raic.org); Construction Canada, 2018. All accessed November 3, 2026.