--- title: "Keeping Company Knowledge Next to the Standards" description: "How upcoming CSI Dynamic Standards features will help teams keep internal guidance alongside published standards and share custom classifications with trusted partners." datePublished: 2026-11-12 dateModified: 2026-11-12 author: "TCS Team" canonical: https://theconstructionstandard.com/blog/keeping-company-knowledge-next-to-the-standards publisher: The Construction Standard topics: - "CSI Dynamic Standards" - "Internal Notes" - "Internal Classifications Editor" - "company knowledge" - "custom construction classifications" - "construction information" - "construction taxonomy" - "project handoffs" - "construction AI" - "construction data governance" - "MasterFormat" - "UniFormat" - "OmniClass" --- # Keeping Company Knowledge Next to the Standards Published 2026-11-12 by TCS Team > **At a Glance** > > Most companies build their own guidance and custom classifications on top of the standardized structure from CSI Dynamic Standards (CDS). Two upcoming enterprise features will allow you to keep that knowledge right next to the standards it relates to, so every office, project team, and partner works from the same version. MasterFormat®, UniFormat®, and OmniClass® give everyone on a project a common way to name and organize work. That shared language is a big part of what keeps information intact as it moves from design to construction to operations. Over time, each company also builds up its own experience and guidance with the classifications: - Preferred products and trusted suppliers - Owner requirements - Lessons from past projects - Internal classifications for work that MasterFormat, UniFormat, and OmniClass haven’t covered yet Firms save this information in one-off spreadsheets or SharePoint documents (sometimes even in someone’s head), and it can get lost or contradicted across projects. Architects, specifiers, and engineers often have their own internal numbers, keynotes, and naming conventions, which means teams have to meet and coordinate how those classifications align before they can work together consistently. When that guidance is inconsistent across locations or projects, it can turn up later as RFIs, change orders, and disputes – or end up in [AI tools](/blog/ai-standards) without oversight for consistency and accuracy. ![MasterFormat 07 21 00 Thermal Insulation linked to company guidance scattered across spreadsheets, email, SharePoint, and other sources](https://imagedelivery.net/YVJ3NQP9JnlgC3Z6OdmekA/8c0d235b-ba72-4137-c0ba-a78d41927600/full) We’re adding two features to CDS to help keep that knowledge centralized and right next to the standards it relates to, with the ability to share your internal classifications with other organizations on the CDS platform. ## New Features for the Whole Organization ## Internal Notes with Roles Guidance lives in scattered places, whether it’s a preferred supplier or a product that failed on a past project. It usually sits in an old markup or with a few experienced people, and when that information is kept separately from the classification, it creates risk and takes time, extra steps, and sometimes rework down the line. When a key person leaves or a new office opens, the next team has to figure it out again or repeat the same mistakes. Internal Notes let you attach that guidance directly to the classification it applies to. Anyone in your organization with permission to view notes can see the guidance when they open that classification. A few ways teams will be able to use it: - Owners can attach their standing requirements to the classifications consultants already use - Contractors and engineering firms can record preferred suppliers and lessons learned; and link product-related guidance to OmniClass Table 23—Products, so every office works the same way - New staff can build on what the company has already learned - Team members can record common internal abbreviations alongside the standard titles, so work moves faster without replacing the published terminology Each note will record who wrote it, when, the source, and the standard it applies to. Assigned roles allow for centralized control where only designated associates can view, add, or edit notes. For a preview of how this feature will work, [watch this video](/videos/notes). ## Internal Classifications Editor and Sharing with Partners New systems and project types often show up in between editions from CSI. Teams still need to assign numbers and titles to them, so they make them up in a spreadsheet or cost system, and each office does it a little differently. Each construction business has its own idiosyncrasies and ways of working, which need to be shared with partners and suppliers to enable smooth running. The Internal Classifications Editor allows you to add your own numbers and titles inside CSI Dynamic Standards, under the correct official parent classification and following each standard's rules for user-defined numbers. For MasterFormat, that means using only unassigned numbers within an assigned Division, never using a reserved Division, and never giving a new number to an existing standard title. They’re highlighted in yellow and identified as user-defined so no one confuses them with CSI’s published classifications. Owners will be able to share internal classifications with their trusted design and construction partners to coordinate internally. Shared numbers and titles stay user-defined, so project manuals and other project deliverables should still use the published MasterFormat Level 1–4 numbers and titles. For a preview of how this will work, [watch this video](/videos/internal-classifications). Over time, we expect this to help identify where new classifications are needed most, so teams can submit them through CSI's formal revision proposal process for consideration in a future edition. **Where to start:** Internal Notes and Internal Classifications are coming soon. To get ready, find where your team’s guidance and custom classifications live today, and note which ones your team asks about most. For more information or a demo, [contact us](/contact). ## Related resources - [/blog/ai-standards](https://theconstructionstandard.com/blog/ai-standards) - [/blog/cost-of-disconnected-information](https://theconstructionstandard.com/blog/cost-of-disconnected-information) - [MasterFormat overview](https://theconstructionstandard.com/masterformat) - [UniFormat overview](https://theconstructionstandard.com/uniformat) - [OmniClass overview](https://theconstructionstandard.com/omniclass)