The American Concrete Institute (ACI) has released the Spanish edition of ACI 318-14: Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete.
The 2015 International Building Code references 318-14. A Spanish language inch-pound version has also been released. The reorganized 318-14 is structured from an engineer’s perspective.
By focusing on member design, ACI 318 requirements flow more intuitively and have fewer cross-references, ACI says. The document has greater ease of use; improved logic and flow of information; member-based organization to quickly locate relevant code information; and construction requirements centralized in one chapter.
Publication of ACI 318-14 is the first major reorganization of ACI 318 since 1971 and represents nearly a decade of work. Updates include new chapters on structural systems and diaphragms, and a consistent structure for each member chapter. The U.S. and more than 22 countries around the world base their national building codes on all or part of ACI 318, and the document is used globally.
(http://www.concrete.org/News/NewsDetail.aspx?f=51687651)
New York City last year adopted the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recommendation to require additional exit stairways in high-rise buildings.
Since stairwells count as part of a building’s floor, an amendment to the city’s Zoning Resolution is also required and city government is considering the measure. The amendment exempts space used for the additional emergency stairwells from counting toward zoning floor area in new, non-residential buildings 420 feet high or taller.
The International Building Code (IBC) adopted the NIST’s findings in 2009, following a review of high-rise safety after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A major recommendation was to increase exit capacity of buildings with additional exit pathways.
The zoning measure applies primarily to office buildings and hotels in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, and Long Island City, Queens. The 11 community boards in those neighborhoods and borough presidents in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens have 60 days to review the amendment, followed by reviews at the City Planning Commission and the City Council.
(http://www.qgazette.com/news/2015-01-07/Features/Making_Tall_Buildings_Safer.html)
Related Stories
| Jul 16, 2012
Business school goes for maximum vision, transparency, and safety with fire rated glass
Architects were able to create a 2-hour exit enclosure/stairwell that provided vision and maximum fire safety using fire rated glazing that seamlessly matched the look of other non-rated glazing systems.
| Jul 12, 2012
Federal budget chief to explain impact of pending defense cuts before Congress
Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients is scheduled to testify before the House Armed Services Committee Aug. 1 to explain the possible effects of $500 billion in defense cuts on U.S. companies, including those in the design and construction industry.
| Jul 12, 2012
Pennsylvania legislature moves to prevent undocumented workers on public construction projects
Legislation to prevent undocumented workers from being hired by construction companies working on state-funded projects passed the Pennsylvania Legislature.
| Jul 12, 2012
New York’s One Bryant Park Bank of America tower is first new high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum
The new One Bryant Park Bank of America tower in midtown Manhattan is the first new commercial high-rise to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
| Jul 12, 2012
OSHA launches campaign to prevent heat illness
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has launched its 2012 Heat Illness Prevention Campaign to educate employees and their employers about the hazards of working outdoors in heat, and how to prevent heat-related illnesses.
| Jul 12, 2012
Contractors have increasing concerns over new federal hiring quotas
A proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to increase disabled- and veteran-worker hiring quotas for federal contractors continues to raise deep concerns among contractors.
| Jul 5, 2012
Veterans Administration threatens to pull contract on new Orlando medical center
The Veterans Administration asked contractor Brasfield & Gorrie to get more workers on the job and figure out a way to get the job done faster, or the VA would pull the contract on the much-delayed Orlando VA Medical Center.
| Jul 5, 2012
Cost to contractors for new federal hiring quotas much higher than estimated, AGC says
Administration officials significantly underestimated the cost to construction employers of proposed new hiring quotas for federal contractors, according to analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America.
| Jul 5, 2012
Roof membrane could have prevented roof parking deck collapse, specialist says
The collapse of a section of a roof parking deck at the Algo Centre Mall in Elliot Lake in Ontario, Canada could have been prevented if the structure had a membrane, according to a concrete expert and specialist in structure analysis at McMaster University.