Report of the MCAA Technical Committee
Words: Jerry PainterAs Chairman of the MCAA Technical Committee, I would like to submit the following report to the Board. Since our Annual and Midyear meetings, we have been working hard on many issues that protect mason contractors throughout the nation.
Reinforced Masonry Design Code Group (RMDCG)
Throughout 2006, a small group of designers have been meeting to discuss the current state of the Masonry Standards Joint Committee and its lack of "common sense" Code provisions. Different items were discussed, but all 9 members of this group had one thing in common, they all wanted to see a BETTER masonry Code. In order to achieve this, the group (known as the Reinforced Masonry Design Code Group (RMDCG)) agreed that a suite of trial designs could "flush out" a lot of the problems within the MSJC's Code provisions. Therefore, in July 2006, this suite of trial designs was developed and distributed to many national and local masonry promotion groups and asked for them to pay practicing engineers to use the current codes to develop a design. Over 50 design engineers from all across the country were given 5 different masonry structural design problems and asked to use the most recent version of the Masonry Standards Joint Committee
The group met in again in November of 2006 with many local and national masonry promotion groups to discuss the results of their trial designs. (MSJC) Code and the International Building Code (IBC). The result of these trial designs was a list of over 30 suggestions of Code changes that should be implemented to either fix design code problems or make portions of the codes more understandable to practicing designers. The RMDCG will forward this list to the Masonry Alliance for Codes and Standards (MACS) so that they can develop strategies to incorporate these changes in the appropriate design codes.
The RMDCG will continue to work towards a better masonry Code. This can only work to the benefit of contractors. As more and more designers get intimately involved in the Code development process, it is the hope of MCAA that more practical provisions are implemented rather than the theoretical ones that have plagued us for years.
Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) ACI 530
The Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) has elected a new Chairwoman, Mrs. Diane Throop, PE and is currently looking to set its membership roster for the 2008 and 2011 editions of the Masonry Code. Traditionally there has not been much contractor representation at the Code level. In fact, out of the total committee, there are only THREE contractors who actively participate. This is our opportunity to influence the MSJC Masonry Code in the favor of contractors for the next six years.
The current subcommittees are listed below:
- AAC Masonry
- Construction Requirements
- Flexure & Axial Load
- General Requirements
- Infill Walls
- Prestressed Masonry
- Reinforcement & Connectors
- Seismic Design
- Veneer, Glass Block, and Empirical
The time commitment is 4 days a year, and ballots. Don't let the ballots discourage you. If enough members are allowed to join, the MCAA technical committee will hold conference calls for every ballot so contractors can benefit from each others experiences and the technical aspect from MCAA's engineering consultant.
If you are interested in becoming a member of the 2008 and 2011 Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC), please contact Rashod R. Johnson, P.E., at rjohnson@masoncontractors.org by February 28, 2007 for additional information.
If you are interested in becoming an agent for change in the US Masonry Code, now is the time to stop complaining and be a part of the solution. Join MSJC and make a difference!
American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM)
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) held its semi-annual fall meetings at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta from Dec 4-7th, 2006. Committees C12 on Masonry Mortars and C15 on Manufactured Masonry Units held task group, subcommittee and main committee meetings over these three days and debated a variety of topics.
A new subcommittee was formed on Manufactured Stone Veneer. This subcommittee has the charge of developing a manufacturing and installation standard for manufactured stone veneer. While the subcommittee is just getting started, there are many industry experts that have joined ASTM as a result of this pending Standard and it should result in a very technically sound ASTM document.
The workmanship standard task group's leadership has shifted from Jerry Painter to Rashod Johnson, P.E. C15 committee chairwoman Diane Throop, P.E. charged the task group with the challenge of completing this standard within a year's time. While this charge may seem daunting, Rashod is confident he can lead this standard to completion.