Kenneth Bland is the Vice President, Codes & Regulations for the American Wood Council. AWC is committed to ensuring a resilient, safe, and sustainable built environment on behalf of the industry it represents.
States and municipalities eager to allow taller mass timber buildings are considering adopting the mass timber provisions in the 2021 International Building Code (IBC). Many have recently finished the adoption of the 2018 I-codes and would otherwise wait several more years to incorporate construction types IV-A, IV-B, and IV-C into their building codes to allow mass timber buildings up to 18 stories tall.
…
The 2021 International Building Code (IBC) will introduce three new types of construction for fire-resistance-rated mass timber structures, the first significant addition to the types of construction in many years. Although still considered combustible construction, the structural frames of these buildings are designed for integrity in the unlikely event of fire exposure. …
