diff --git a/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.cpp b/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.cpp
index 27c2856a2688e52fd357d86efa45dc78fd73ff72..0e1373d8273691323b277f9653e3c148d6ddbbb3 100644
--- a/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.cpp
+++ b/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.cpp
@@ -148,9 +148,11 @@ template<typename T> void BeamItem::initInclinationAngle()
 
 const QString SpecularBeamItem::P_FOOPTPRINT = "Footprint";
 
+const QString SpecularBeamItem::M_TYPE = "SpecularBeam";
+
 const QString footprint_group_label("Type");
 
-SpecularBeamItem::SpecularBeamItem() : BeamItem("SpecularBeam")
+SpecularBeamItem::SpecularBeamItem() : BeamItem(M_TYPE)
 {
     initInclinationAngle<SpecularBeamInclinationItem>();
     initWavelength<SpecularBeamWavelengthItem>();
@@ -261,7 +263,9 @@ void SpecularBeamItem::updateWavelength()
 // GISAS beam item
 /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
-GISASBeamItem::GISASBeamItem() : BeamItem("GISASBeam")
+const QString GISASBeamItem::M_TYPE = "GISASBeam";
+
+GISASBeamItem::GISASBeamItem() : BeamItem(M_TYPE)
 {
     initInclinationAngle<BeamInclinationAngleItem>();
     initWavelength<BeamWavelengthItem>();
diff --git a/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.h b/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.h
index 088e727c7f81ecbfa2b18a667742f047cbce5ebb..4f61302a4ab9d10e9ccb68b70d68e02cee1a08c4 100644
--- a/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.h
+++ b/GUI/coregui/Models/BeamItems.h
@@ -66,8 +66,14 @@ protected:
 };
 
 class BA_CORE_API_ SpecularBeamItem : public BeamItem {
+
+public:
+
+    static const QString M_TYPE;
+
 private:
     static const QString P_FOOPTPRINT;
+
 public:
 
     SpecularBeamItem();
@@ -92,6 +98,9 @@ private:
 
 class BA_CORE_API_ GISASBeamItem : public BeamItem {
 public:
+
+    static const QString M_TYPE;
+
     GISASBeamItem();
     ~GISASBeamItem() override;
 
diff --git a/GUI/coregui/Models/ItemCatalog.cpp b/GUI/coregui/Models/ItemCatalog.cpp
index 1f585bd88bf2803e5042cf9b725bfe93f566f47d..ac53408bc967257a12fc302c1cdd7e2886ba06c3 100644
--- a/GUI/coregui/Models/ItemCatalog.cpp
+++ b/GUI/coregui/Models/ItemCatalog.cpp
@@ -80,8 +80,8 @@ ItemCatalog::ItemCatalog()
     add("GISASInstrument", create_new<GISASInstrumentItem>);
     add("OffSpecularInstrument", create_new<OffSpecularInstrumentItem>);
     add("SpecularInstrument", create_new<SpecularInstrumentItem>);
-    add("GISASBeam", create_new<GISASBeamItem>);
-    add("SpecularBeam", create_new<SpecularBeamItem>);
+    add(GISASBeamItem::M_TYPE, create_new<GISASBeamItem>);
+    add(SpecularBeamItem::M_TYPE, create_new<SpecularBeamItem>);
     add("NoBackground", create_new<BackgroundNoneItem>);
     add("ConstantBackground", create_new<ConstantBackgroundItem>);
     add("PoissonNoiseBackground", create_new<PoissonNoiseBackgroundItem>);
diff --git a/GUI/coregui/Models/TransformToDomain.cpp b/GUI/coregui/Models/TransformToDomain.cpp
index 4aee56429abdf6dab0e861d3bce32aa20c501d82..de031b17b16c8a92847b78b9f315653ce25af4a6 100644
--- a/GUI/coregui/Models/TransformToDomain.cpp
+++ b/GUI/coregui/Models/TransformToDomain.cpp
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ std::unique_ptr<IParticle> TransformToDomain::createIParticle(const SessionItem&
 void TransformToDomain::addDistributionParametersToSimulation(const BeamItem& beam_item,
                                                               GISASSimulation& simulation)
 {
-    if (beam_item.modelType() != "GISASBeam") {
-        ASSERT(beam_item.modelType() == "GISASBeam");
+    if (beam_item.modelType() != GISASBeamItem::M_TYPE) {
+        ASSERT(beam_item.modelType() == GISASBeamItem::M_TYPE);
         return;
     }
 
@@ -156,8 +156,8 @@ void TransformToDomain::addDistributionParametersToSimulation(const BeamItem& be
 void TransformToDomain::addBeamDivergencesToScan(const BeamItem& beam_item,
                                                  AngularSpecScan& scan)
 {
-    if (beam_item.modelType() != "SpecularBeam") {
-        ASSERT(beam_item.modelType() == "SpecularBeam");
+    if (beam_item.modelType() != SpecularBeamItem::M_TYPE) {
+        ASSERT(beam_item.modelType() == SpecularBeamItem::M_TYPE);
         return;
     }