scope:

a) This Defence Standard lays down a system for the classification system of compartments and spaces for the purpose of recording, estimating, and costing, of naval and other military surface ships and craft.

b) The system defined in this Defence Standard is to be applied to naval and other military surface ships and craft, but not submarines.

c) DES-SE-Sea-ShipDes is to be consulted in the event that difficulty is found in applying the compartment/space breakdown.

d) This Defence Standard is designed to enable backward compatibility with compartment/space classifications based on previous versions of this standard. This means some compartment/spaces classifications are no longer in use. These have been indicated by strikethrough text. Each obsolete number has an alterative extant number that should be used instead if the design has that particular feature or comparisons with previous designs need to be made.