The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) has signed an agreement with Sino-Con, a Chinese software development firm, that will help integrate the American and Chinese construction industries. The initial point of union was CSI's MasterFormat^TM, a 16-division standardized system for organizing written specifications for non-residential buildings. Sino-Con has been developing China's online construction products selection and specifications writing database for four years, and is now ready to make information formatting decisions that will enable them to publish its system and put it into use. After evaluating other countries' construction information classification systems, Sino-Con determined MasterFormat to be the best model for its purposes.

To view this new classification system, visit http://www.sino-com.com Those interested in doing business in China or being in the database should call (800) 689-2900, ext. 4780, or e-mail gcunningham@csinet.org.