What is a Building Designer? Steve Mickley Generally, building design refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering, and technical applications to the design of buildings. Therefore, all building projects require the services of a building designer. Statutorily, the required credentials of a building’s designer vary from... Read More June 2018 Issue #10227 Page 38
Working with Building Code Officials Robert Glowinski Building code officials are our security for ensuring safe building construction and they need to know a lot of information. The American Wood Council (AWC) aims to make the job of building code official a little easier when it comes to knowing about wood products and the latest wood-related... Read More May 2018 Issue #10226 Page 75
Construction Referees: Evaluation Processes for Alternative Building Products Jeff Ellis There are products used in many buildings that are not referenced by the codes or standards. These products can affect structural strength, stability, fire resistance and other building performance attributes, which can impact public safety, health and general welfare. The International Building... Read More May 2018 Issue #10226 Page 96
Protect Yourself by Understanding Design Responsibilities Shawn Overholtzer ANSI/TPI 1 is the National Design Standard that establishes the minimum requirements for the design and construction of metal-plate-connected wood trusses. Chapter 2 defines the design responsibilities. As a truss technician or a component manufacturer, you are not responsible for specifying the... Read More February 2018 Issue #10223 Page 16
Get Your Building Official to Vote on Code Changes Robert Glowinski The International Code Council (ICC) building code update process for the 2021 code cycle is officially underway! In late December, the ICC Tall Wood Building Ad-hoc Committee submitted a package of 19 proposed changes for the 2021 edition of the building code that would collectively allow... Read More February 2018 Issue #10223 Page 73
All Things Wood: Wood Frame Construction Manual—a Valuable Structural Design Guide Frank Woeste While the International Residential Code (IRC) gives the structural requirements and prescriptive design data for residential framing, additional help for the non-engineer is available through the Wood Frame Construction Manual for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (WFCM) published by the American... Read More January 2018 Issue #10222 Page 73
Fire Safety & Multi-Family Wood Construction Robert Glowinski The American Wood Council hosted a webinar in July sharing best practices for fire protection during construction to help mitigate and reduce construction fires. The 90-minute presentation introduced attendees to several recent major construction fires and their reported causes, the many... Read More December 2017 Issue #10221 Page 73
Truss-to-Truss and Truss-to-Everything Else Connections Kelly Sias One of the questions I am asked most frequently is “Who is responsible for the truss-to-(fill in the blank) connection? One such example is the truss-to-wall connection. To answer this question, it helps to recognize there are two types of connections: a truss-to-truss connection and a... Read More December 2017 Issue #10221 Page 90
Making Code Official Connections Robert Glowinski Building officials are the gatekeepers to building construction. To approve any construction, including where wood is the principal product, they need to know a lot of information. The American Wood Council aims to make the job of building code official a little easier when it comes to knowing... Read More July 2017 Issue #10216 Page 71
Building Code Update: 2018 IBC to Reference ASCE 7-16 Randy Shackelford In early December, ICC posted the preliminary results of the Group B Online Governmental Consensus Vote, which included structural changes to the IBC, IEBC and IRC. ICC reports that there were more than 162,000 votes cast by eligible Voting Members during the three-week online voting... Read More May 2017 Issue #10214 Page 83