BURNABY, British Columbia - ARCOM, the publisher of AIA’s MasterSpec guide specification system, has a new strategic alliance with Master Painters Institute (MPI), which will be of great interest to architects, specifiers and paint manufacturers. The two organizations have agreed to develop an innovative new web-based specification tool that combines MPI’s Architectural Decision Tree system with ARCOM’s new SpecBuilder+Expert platform, for use by MasterSpec Licensed Users

The tool will take the data from MPI’s online question and answer system, which enables paint buyers and specifiers to select appropriate paints and paint systems for 25 different types of surfaces commonly encountered in buildings, and feed that information into ARCOM’s SpecBuilder+Expert application to create MasterSpec-based painting specifications. The new tool will be available in the late fall.

Paint manufacturers will also be able to create a proprietary version of the SpecBuilder+Expert tool through ARCOM’s Product MasterSpec program. They will be able to customize the specifications, add information about their products, and provide knowledge articles and other information to make decision-making easier.

Salt Lake City-based firm ARCOM is the leader in construction specifications with more than 40 full-time specification development professionals. It exclusively publishes MasterSpec for The American Institute of Architects (AIA).