The 2021 Edition of Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic (SDPWS) was approved as an American National Standard on July 22, 2020, with the designation ANSI/AWC SDPWS-2021 (Figure 1). The 2021 SDPWS was developed by the American Wood Council’s (AWC’s) Wood Design Standards Committee (WDSC) and contains provisions for the design of wood members, fasteners, and assemblies to resist wind and seismic forces. Notable revisions are summarized below (also see Table 1 online for a summary of changes by Chapter):
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Author Archives : Bradford Douglas, P.E.
Brad Douglas, P.E. (bdouglas@awc.org), is Vice President of Engineering with the American Wood Council.
Wood studs designed to resist wind loads in either loadbearing or non-loadbearing tall wall applications are good examples of resilient design. Tall walls can be defined as those exceeding the International Residential Code (IRC) prescriptive limit of 10 feet for loadbearing walls. Proper design of wood structures to resist such wind loads also requires correct use of wind load provisions. Minimum design loads must be in accordance with the governing building code or, where applicable, other recognized minimum design load standards such as American Society of Civil Engineers’ ASCE 7 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. …
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The 2018 Edition of the Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings, designated ANSI/AWC WFCM-2018, is approved as an ANSI American National Standard (Figure 1). The 2018 WFCM was developed by the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Wood Design Standards Committee (WDSC) and is referenced in the 2018 International Residential Code (IRC) and 2018 International Building Code (IBC). …
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The 2018 Edition of the National Design Specification® (NDS®) for Wood Construction was recently published. The updated standard, designated ANSI/AWC NDS-2018, was approved as an ANSI American National Standard on November 30, 2017 (Figure 1). …
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The 2015 Edition of the National Design Specification® (NDS®) for Wood Construction was recently published. The updated standard designated ANSI/AWC NDS-2015 was approved as an ANSI American National Standard on September 30, 2014 (Figure 1). The 2015 NDS was developed by the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Wood Design Standards Committee and is referenced in the 2015 International Building Code (IBC). …
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The Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings was updated and is designated ANSI/AWC WFCM-2012 (Figure 1). The 2012 WFCM was developed by the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Wood Design Standards Committee and is referenced in the 2012 International Residential Code (IRC) and 2012 International Building Code (IBC). …
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The model building codes in the U.S. cover virtually every safety-related topic associated with construction of buildings. Fire-related issues comprise a surprisingly large portion of the model codes. Designing for fire safety is a complex and multifaceted issue. Discussion in this article is limited to design of exposed wood members. Additional information on building code requirements for wood can be found in the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Code Conforming Wood Design documents, available for free download. …
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