American Wood Council and International Code Council Jointly Release Publication – Mass Timber Building and the IBC

A new publication entitled Mass Timber Building and the IBC has been jointly released by the American Wood Council (AWC) and International Code Council (ICC). The publication gives an overview of code changes regarding mass timber construction. These changes, which started with the ICC’s 2015 International Building Code, allow taller and larger-area timber buildings and recognize cross-laminated timber as a building material. The publication also reviews the code’s reorganization of heavy timber provisions in the 2018 IBC and significant changes for tall mass timber construction in the 2021 code and the International Fire Code (IFC). Changes to the codes are based on fire and life-safety performance testing and the anticipated increase in demand for taller mass timber structures. The AWC and ICC are also planning on conducting, sometime in the fall, two full-day courses on mass timber buildings and the building code. The course will cover provisions in the 2015/2018 International Building Code and the 2021 IBC and 2021 IFC.