Maintenance
Process undertaken to keep the construction works in the same condition as at the end of the Creation Process or to restore it to that condition.
Maintenance Manual
Document that contains advice on care and servicing requirements of a construction works.
Make Good
To restore new or existing work after being damaged; by cutting, patching, or repairing with materials identical to the original materials; with visible surfaces matching the appearance of the original surfaces in all its detail; with no apparent junctions between new and original materials.
Make-Up Air
The air needed to replace the waste air that has been extracted from the room.
Male
(M) Gender of amenities. Any part, such as a bolt, designed to fit into another (female) part. External threads are male.
Mannerism
A mid-16th-century movement, Italian in origin, although El Greco was a major practitioner of the style. The human figure, distorted and elongated, was the most frequent subject.
Mansard-Roof
Double-pitched roof sloping from ridge to eaves on 2 sides, but in 2 different planes with the lower being the steeper and a vertical wall on the other 2 sides.
Mantelpiece
Decorative structure around and above a fireplace, usually includes a mantelshelf for displaying decorative items.
Manufacturer
The name of a business that produces products off-site.
Manufacturer’s Specifications
The written installation and/or maintenance instructions which are developed by the manufacturer of a product and which may have to be followed in order to maintain the product warranty.
Marked Crossing
A crosswalk or other identified path intended for pedestrian use in crossing a vehicular way.
Marquee
A large tent, often with open sides, used chiefly for outdoor entertainment OR a roof-like structure, often bearing a signboard, projecting over an entrance, as to a theatre or hotel. Also called marquise.
Marquetry
A decorative veneer made up of shaped pieces of wood in different colours that are pierced together to form a picture or pattern. The finished surface is flat, whereas inlay may result in a three dimensional surface.
Masonry
Originally construction by a mason in stone, but expanded to include brick, concrete block. Normally bonded together with mortar to form a wall.
Masonry Joints
Concave, Vee, Flush, Raked, Extruded, Beaded, Struck.
Massing
The exterior shape of a building. A volumetric view of the building.
Master Format
A list of numbers and titles for organizing information about construction created by the US Construction Specification Institute (CSI).
Mastic
A heavy-consistency compound that may remain adhesive and pliable with age. This term is typically given to a number of bonding substances used for a variety of purposes such as: waterproof compound applied to exterior walls and roof surfaces; thick adhesive used to hold floor and wall tiles in place; and construction adhesive applied from a caulking gun.
Match Original
Provide new materials to match the original material in all aspects as closely as possible. Original materials are those which were originally installed in the facility at the time of its completion, prior to previous alterations, and which may pre-date existing materials.
Material
A primary substance or by-product (eg. sand or slag) used to create a larger entity. Materials are often referred to in specifications as products.
Means of Egress
A continuous and unobstructed path of vertical and horizontal egress travel from any occupied portion of a building or structure to a public way. A means of egress consists of three separate and distinct parts: the exit access, the exit and the exit discharge.
Mechanical
(MECH) A mechanical service room.
Medieval
The architecture of the Middle Ages.
Medium
Material on which information is recorded, eg paper.
Meeting
Meeting room (for fewer than 20 people, Conference for 20 or more people).
Meeting Rails
The two rails in a double hung window that touch and form the middle horizontal member.
Meeting Stile
The vertical edge of a door or window, in a pair, which is adjacent to the other door or window.
Megalopolis
A very large city, or a group of cities that has merged into one.
Membrane
A barrier impervious to moisture, which can be sheet or liquid applied. NOTE: These can be a single or multi part system
Membrane, External
A membrane that is installed behind the wall sheeting or render. Usually external membranes are preformed trays or sheet material systems.
Membrane, Internal
A membrane that is installed to the face of the wall sheeting or render. Usually internal membranes are liquid systems applied in situ.
Metamorphic Furniture
Furniture that has been designed for more than one purpose, such as a chair that can change into a set of library steps.
Meter
A measure; an apparatus for measuring
Metre
(m) A unit of measurement.
Metropolis
The chief city of a country; a large busy city.
Mezzanine
An intermediate level or levels between the floor and ceiling of any story with an aggregate floor area of not more than one-third of the area of the room or space in which the level or levels are located. Mezzanines have sufficient elevation that space for human occupancy can be provided on the floor below.
Micrometre
A micrometre (American English: micrometer; symbol µm) is an SI unit of length equal to one millionth of a metre, or equivalently, one thousandth of a millimetre. It is also commonly known as a micron. It can be written in scientific notation as 1×10−6 m, meaning 1 / 1,000,000 m.
Microstation
MicroStation is the platform architectural and engineering software package developed by Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Among a number of things, it generates 2D/3D vector graphic objects and elements.
Its native format is the DGN (DesiGN file) format, though it can also read and write a variety of standard CAD formats including AutoCAD’s DWG and DXF as well as producing media output in such forms as rendered images (JPEG and BMP), animations (AVI), 3D web pages in Virtual Reality Modeling Language, and Adobe PDF.
At its inception, MicroStation was used in the engineering and architecture fields primarily for creating construction drawings; however, it has evolved through its various versions to include advanced modeling and rendering features, including boolean solids, raytracing, and keyframe animation. It can provide specialized environments for architecture, civil engineering, mapping, or plant design, among others.
Various MicroStation extensions enhance the usefulness of the 3D model beyond mere drawing generation and 3D presentation. They can provide accurate materials lists for every item included in the design, a sequenced schedule for construction, check for interferences between objects, publish all drawings automatically on a public website, or provide a client/owner a detailed model of their entire plant including its virtual operation for training and testing.
MicroStation was originally developed by Bentley Systems in the 1980s. In 2000, Bentley made revisions to the DGN file format in V8 that made it a superset of Autodesk’s DWG format (including various things that DWG can not support, like Digital Rights and Design History – a revision control ability that allows to reinstate previous revisions either globally or by selection).
MicroStation users are currently beta testing MicroStation V8 XM, the latest iteration that builds upon the changes made by V8.
Midrail
Any rail fitted between the top rail and the bottom rail or toe-board.
Minch
Introducing the MINCH, The metric inch! 1 minch = 25mm The minch was invented by Ken Morkaya. “To soften the blow for the U.S.A.”
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.
Miter
A joint at a 45-degree angle, or evenly angled between the joined elements.
Mitre Joint
A diagonal joint formed by 2 pieces of timber meeting at an angle.
Modern Movement
A general name given to the trend which espoused functionalism, technology and the removal of ornamentation.
Moment
The resultant of a system of forces causing rotation without translation. A moment can be expressed as a couple.
Monolithic Slab
When a continuous concrete pour is used to create the floor surface and foundation walls. This makes the foundation very strong and also protects against termite attack.
Mortar
A mixture of cement, sand and water with which bricks, etc are bonded.
Mortice
An opening, recess or cut-out made to receive a lock or other hardware. Also the act of making such an opening.
Mortise And Tenon
A type of joint used in wood working in which one piece of wood has a projecting piece shaped in the end (tenon) that fits snugly into a hole (mortise) in the second piece of wood. In more finely crafted furniture the wood cuts may also angled so that once assembled the joint is impossible to separate other than by breaking the wood (three way interlocking mortise and tenon joint).
Mosaic
Glass, tile, or other small pieces as an inlay.
Moulding
A band or strip along a surface or joining 2 surfaces, such as an architrave around a door or window, a cornice where the wall and ceiling meet or a skirting where wall and floor meet A strip of wood applied to a piece of furniture to add decoration or to conceal a joint.
Movement Joint
(MJ) Joints designed to accommodate continuing movement in the structure throughout the life of the building caused by expansion and/or contraction due to thermal or other effects. Use the abbreviation MJ on drawings to generically describe all movement joints other than seismic.
Mowing Strip
A concrete maintenance edge at ground level around a building or building element.
Mullion
A vertical dividing member between the lights of a window or a door, each of, which may be further, divided by glazing bars. Vertical member of a window frame other than the jambs. Vertical member of a window frame other than the jambs.
Muntin
An intermediate vertical framing member in a panelled door, usually of the same width as the stiles.