Building Codes Supported

It is essential that structural engineering software support the adopted building codes in the region where construction is planned. There are numerous research code and governmental adopted building codes adopted throughout the United States of America.

To support all facets of each and every code is beyond the scope of this software.

For structural design all codes base their requirements for material design on the major "research codes" developed my non-profit research organizations: American Institute of Steel Construction, America Concrete Institute, American Forest and Paper Association, American Society of Civil Engineers, the Building Seismic Safety Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

•	International Code 2003 International Building Code

•	National Fire Protection Association 2003 NFPA 5000 Building Construction and Safety Code

•	ASCE STANDARD ASCE 7-02 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures

•	Building Seismic Safety Council 2000 Edition Recommended Provisions for Seismic Regulations

These "adopted" building codes refer to the "base" codes to form the bulk of the design specification in each material:

•	Wood : ANSI / AF & PA National Design Specification 30 November 2001

•	Masonry : ACI 530-02 / ASCE 5-02/TMS 402-2 Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures

•	Concrete : ACI 318R-02 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete

•	Steel : American Institute of Steel Construction, Manual of Steel Construction, Allowable Stress Design Ninth Edition

Steel : American Institute of Steel Construction, Manual of Steel Construction, Load & Resistance Factor Design, Third Edition

This Structural Engineering Library set of design & analysis programs follows the above codes for the types of calculations that are performed. This is not to say that ALL of the requirements in these codes are support because the various programs MAY NOT CHECK THOSE AREAS of the building code. It is up to the users to determine whether an additional building code provision needs to be reviewed for a particular design.

Loads

Design loads on structures are specified by the adopted building codes and by reference to the base research codes. In this software package you are provided entries to enter the wind or seismic load on the structural element you are designing.

For seismic loads, In nearly all cases you enter the load to be applied AFTER applying any code required factors to the gravity weight of the object where the load originates.

For wind loads you are provided with one program that uses the older UBC approach for wind force calculation on the exposed side of a structure. The detailed wind loading of ASCE-7 is not provided in this program package. Check future versions of the Structural Engineering Library for this capability.