The American Wood Council (AWC) released its three new 2024 wood design standards: the National Design Specification® for Wood Construction (NDS®), Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, and Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction (FDS).
These have already been approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Additionally, the 2024 NDS and the 2024 WFCM are referenced in the International Code Council’s 2024 International Building Code and 2024 International Residential Code.
AWC maintains an ANSI-approved consensus process where interested parties sit on AWC’s Wood Design Standards Committee and work to update AWC’s wood design standards, which are referenced in the national model building codes. In essence, to properly design and build a wood structure in the United States, someone must use AWC’s design standards.
“The Design Standards Committee did an incredible job working to bring these standards together, getting them approved, and then referenced by the ICC. These publications are the results of multiple years of work and research,” said Jackson Morrill, AWC’s President & CEO.
While each publication has a unique purpose, all are focused specifically on wood-based design. The highlights of this year’s changes are summarized below.
The NDS is the primary design standard for wood structures. The 2024 publication includes new provisions for the design of shear for bending members and connections with four or more members. Additionally, changes were made to Chapter 16 of the NDS to bring its fire design provisions into alignment with the 2024 FDS.
The 2024 FDS contains new provisions for fire design and includes calculation procedures for determining structural fire resistance, thermal separations, and burn-through resistance of protected and unprotected wood members and assemblies. Additionally, the 2024 specifications address the added fire resistance and thermal protection of wood cover, gypsum panels, and insulation.
The WFCM applies to wood structure elements like sawn lumber, structural glued laminated timber, wood structural panel sheathing, structural composite limber, wood I-joists, and wood trusses. The 2024 changes were made to align the requirements with updated wind and snow loading provisions approved in ASCE 7-22.
AWC’s Vice President of Engineering Bradford Douglas noted that these publications are the culmination of over five years of design standards and the work doesn’t stop now. AWC is already working to compile Commentaries on the new standards to further support quality wood construction and ensure the standards are user-friendly.
All three standards are available for free viewing on the AWC website. A printed or electronic version of the 2024 NDS and 2024 WFCM will be available for purchase once the Commentaries are added later this year.