Masonry Magazine September 2010 Page. 36
Our Masonry Code and Specification: Where do they come from?
BY RICHARD E. KLINGNER
Note: In this article, the process used to produce our masonry design code and specification in the United States is reviewed, with emphasis on how that process affects mason contractors. Mason contractors are encouraged to participate in that process.
In contrast to many other countries, the United States has no national design codes, largely because the U.S. Constitution does not specifically give the federal government the power to develop such a code. As a consequence, our U.S. design codes come from a complicated process involving technical specialty organizations, model-code organizations, and local governmental jurisdictions. As it applies to our masonry code and specification, this process is summarized in Figure 1, and is discussed in the rest of this article.
From the viewpoint of a designer or a contractor involved in the design and construction of a particular hypothetical building, the process shown in Figure 1 is applied from the bottom, up. If the building is in Austin, Texas, for instance, the designer is required to follow the legally adopted building code, which will soon be the 2009 version of the International Building Code (IBC 2009). The 2009 IBC references the 2008 Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) Code (MSJC 2008a), which, in turn, references the 2008 MSJC Specification (MSJC 2008b). Because it is referenced by the legally adopted building code, the 2008 MSJC Code becomes the law for designers. Because the 2008 MSJC Code refers to the 2008 MSJC Specification, that Specification must become part of the construction documents. The construction documents include general terms and conditions, plans, and specifications. They must include a quality assurance program at least as rigorous as that required by the MSJC Code and Specification. They become a civil contract between the contractor and the owner.
The First Step - The Masonry Standards Joint Committee
As shown at the top of Figure 1, the MSJC Code and Specification is produced by the Masonry Standards Joint Committee, a national committee that operates under rules approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).