Codes and Standards
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Codes, or building codes, are the documents that legally spell out the minimum level of construction for creating safe structures. Standards describe materials, both components and systems, and test methods that certify if quality is being met. In a broad sense, codes and standards work together to say what must be done in construction, how it must be done, and with what materials you can do it.

Most building construction in the U.S. is influenced by state and local building codes. These codes are intended as minimum design and construction requirements to assure life safety, property protection, general welfare of the public, and safety to firefighters and emergency responders. Recognizing an opportunity to help professionals and public alike, PCA has created a new area on its Web site to cover codes and standards.

Most states and local jurisdictions adopt a building code based on a national model. PCA focuses its efforts on the provisions contained in national model building codes and referenced standards, thereby maximizing its influence. For masonry, the important documents from a codes perspective are the Masonry Standards Joint Committee Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures and Specification for Masonry Structures. They are known, respectively, by the various publishing bodies’ document numbers: ACI 530-05/ASCE 5-05/TMS 402-05 and ACI 530.1-05/ASCE 6-05/TMS 602-05, where ACI is the American Concrete Institute, TMS is The Masonry Society, and ASCE is the American Society of Civil Engineers. (Both the Code and Specification have a commentary associated with them to provide explanatory discussion for each section.) The year is part of the document number as well, such as TMS 402-05, where the 05 indicates the 2005 edition. The Code and Specification are currently published on a 3-year cycle, and the next versions go out for public comment about 18 months prior to the date of next publication, which will be 2008.

Though codes and standards play a large role in construction, it’s perhaps somewhat behind the scenes, partly because the process is long. These documents carry the weight of law so information contained in them has to be accurate. Any changes that are proposed should be justified with a technical reason and supported by votes.

PCA’s Building Codes and Standards Web site is arranged by the following areas of interest:

• National model codes development—local jurisdictions start with the model code and modify as they see fit


• National reference standards development—industry and society groups supplement the codes process with technical documents on specific subject matters


• National guide development—guides, which are in non-mandatory language, often lead the codes process


• State and local code development—model codes serve as examples for states and other jurisdictions. A useful feature here is a map that allows visitors to click on a state to view its codes, PCA and local contacts, code development entities, and industry statistics.


• Fire safety in multi-family buildings—a specific area of focus talks about the important technical aspects of residential buildings and fire protection
• Technical support—there are people behind these activities, and they can answer questions and provide other help

PCA codes and standards staff works with masonry and other cement-based systems including concrete in all its forms, like cast-in-place, precast, and tilt-up.

Click here for the Codes and Standards Web site.

 
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