Evolution and Future of Building Codes in the USA

Abstract

While harmonization of structural design codes in Europe has been a carefully coordinated and organized process, significant similar changes in American codes occurred in the late 1990s and early 2000s through completely different processes. These changes included the imposition of a single national code, the clear separation between the load and resistance parts of the design into distinct documents, and extensive attempts at streamlining the inclusions of the latest research results into the codes, among others. The paper first traces the development of design codes in the USA to provide a context for these recent developments. It then describes two examples of current code development processes: (a) the “loads” code or ASCE 7-10 and (b) the “steel” code or AISC 360-10. Finally, this paper describes the new building code regulatory landscape and the first attempts at generating performance-based design guidelines, in the form of seismic provisions for tall buildings in high seismic zones.

Keywords::

• codes
• code development
• standards
• structural design
• design loads