Model Building Codes

How building codes have changed over the years

A building code is a set of rules that specify minimum standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Building codes are generally applied by Architects, Engineers, Constructors, and Regulators. Building codes are also used for various purposes by safety inspectors, environmental scientists, real estate developers, subcontractors, manufactures of building products and materials, insurance companies, facility managers, tenants, and others. Codes regulating design and construction of structures were adopted into law. Codes in developed western nations can be quite complex, and exhausive. Building codes began in Ancient times. They have been developing ever

since. In the United States of America, the main codes are International Commercial Codes, or Residential Codes [ICC/IRC], or Electrical Codes, and Plumbing Mechanical Codes. Other codes may include fire, health, transportation, manufacturing, and other regulations. Designers use building code standards out of substantial reference books during design. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, which had been able to spread so rapidly through the densely built timber housing of the city, the Rebuilding of London Act was passed in the same year as the first significant building regulation. Created by Matthew Hale, the Act regulated the rebuilding of the city, required housing to have some fire resistance capacity and authorised the City of London Corporation to reopen and widen roads. The Laws of the Indies were passed in the 1680s by the Spanish Crown to regulate the urban planning for colonies throughout Spain's worldwide imperial possessions.
The first systematic national building standard was established with the London Building Act of 1844. Among the provisions, builders were required to give the district surveyor two days' notice before building, regulations regarding the thickness of walls, height of rooms, the materials used in repairs, the dividing of existing buildings and the placing and design of chimneys, fireplaces and drains were to be enforced and streets had to be built to minimum requirements.
The Metropolitan Buildings Office was formed to regulate the construction and use of buildings throughout London. Surveyors were empowered to enforce building regulations, which sought to improve the standard of houses and business properties, and to regulate activities that might endanger public health. In 1855 the assets, powers and responsibilities of the office passed to the Metropolitan Board of Works.
The City of Baltimore passed its first building code in 1859. The Great Baltimore Fire occurred in February, 1904. Changes were made that matched other cities. In 1904, a Handbook of the Baltimore City Building Laws was published. It served as the building code for four years. Very soon, a formal building code was drafted and eventually adopted in 1908.
In Paris, under the reconstruction of much of the city under the Second Empire (1852–70), great blocks of apartments were erected and the height of buildings was limited by law to five or six stories at most.

The concept of the model building codes has successfully been applied since the early 1900s in the countries where regulation of building construction is a responsibility of the local authorities. The popularity of model building codes can be attributed to two factors: 1) the developing of building codes is expensive and 2) the ability of the model codes to accommodate local conditions. Since modern building regulations are very complex, their development and effective maintenance are far beyond the technical and financial capabilities of most areas. Rather than drafting its own building codes, a local authority might choose to use the model building codes instead. The model building codes are either adopted (accepted without modifications) or adapted (modified) to a particular jurisdiction and then enforced by the adopting

authority.
Model building codes are developed by standards organizations through a network of development committees with representatives from the various affected entities, both government and private. This method allows the pooling of financial and intellectual resources to produce codes that remain current and technically sound. The model code developers are constantly working to update their codes to incorporate latest research results and building technologies. The model code developers are generally funded by the sales of the model codes, the reprint royalties, and the consulting services they may offer to the adopting authorities and code users.
How Concrete Is Made
Portland Cement is the basic ingredient of concrete. Concrete is formed when Portland Cement creates a paste with water that binds with sand and rock to harden. It’s then manufactured through closely controlled chemical combination of Calcium, Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, and other ingredients. The most common materials in cement is Limestone, shells, Chalk or marl combined with Shale, Clay, blast furnace slag, Silica sand, and Iron ore. When heated at high temperatures, these ingredients form a rock-like substance that is then ground into fine powder. (It’s commonly thought of as cement.). Bricklayer Joseph Aspdin of Leeds, England, first made Portland Cement early in the 19th century by burning powdered Limestone, Clay, Cement Rock, and other materials into a powder so fine it would pass through a sieve capable of holding water. Cement Plant Laboratories check each step in the manufacture of Portland Cement by frequent chemical and physical tests. The labs also analyze, and test the finished product to ensure that it complies with all industry specifications.
The most common way to manufacture Portland Cement is through a dry method. Step one: Quarry principle raw materials, mainly Limestone, Clay, and other materials. After quarrying, the rock is then crushed.(Involves several stages.). The first crushing reduces the rock to a maximum size of six inches. The rock then goes to secondary crushing machines, or hammer mills for reduction to about three inches or smaller. The crushed rock is then combined with other ingredients such as Iron Ore, Fly Ash, and Ground, mixed and fed to a Cement Kiln.
A Cement Kiln heats the ingredients to about 2700 degrees Farenheit in a huge cylindrical steel Rotary Kiln lined with special firebrick. Kilns are 12 feet in Diameter. They accomadate to an automobile, they’re longer than the height of a 40 story building, Large Kilns are mounted by the Axis, and are inclined slightly from its Horizontal. Finely ground raw material is fed into the higher end of the Kiln. At the lower end is a blast of flames, produced by precisely controlled burning of Coal, Oil, Alternative Fuels, or Gas under forced draft. As material moves through the Kiln, certain elements are driven off in a form of gases. The remaining elements unite to form a new substance called clinker. Clinker comes out of the Kiln as grey balls, about the size of marbles. The Clinker is discharged, and is red-hot from the lower end of the Kiln, and generally brought down to handling temperature in various types of coolers. The heated air from the coolers is returned to the Kiln. This is a process that saves fuel, and increases burning efficiency. After the Clinker is cooled, Cement plants grind it, and mix it with small amounts of Gypsum, and Limestone. One pound of cement contains 150 billion grains. The cement is now ready for transport to ready-mix concrete companies to be used in a variety of construction projects. Although the dry process is most modern, and a popular way to manufacture cement, some Kilns in the United States use a wet process. These two processes are just alike except in a wet process, raw materials are ground with water before being fed into a Kiln.
How Products are made
In 1756 the earliest man made cement was developed. It was called Hydraulic Lime. Hydraulic Cement was lost from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century, A.D. until John Smeaton reinvented it. In the 19th century, Joseph Aspdin, and Isaac Charles Johnson contributed to the refinement of synthetic cement. In 1824 Aspdin took out the patent on synthetic blend of Limestone, and Clay, and called it Portland Cement. Portland Cement resembled Limestone quarried on the English Isle of Portland. However, Aspdin’s product wasn’t as strong as Johnson’s, which was produced in 1850. Portland Cement was considered superior because it was stronger, durable, and had more consistent quality.
Concrete Technology in the United States lagged considerably behind. Natural Cement rock was discovered in the early 1800’s, and was used to build the Eerie Canal. Construction of waterways led to the establishment of American companies that produced natural cement. Many Construction workers preferred ordering Portland Cement from Europe because of its strength. When the United States figured out how to make Portland Cement in the 1870’s, the production of Natural Cement in America began to decline. In the late 19th century Reinforced Concrete was invented. In the 1850’s, Workers began embedding steel bars into concrete structure subject to tensile stress. These steel bars are called Rebars. Rebar is a steel bar or mesh of steel wires used as a tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and hold the concrete in tension. Rebar's surface is often patterned to form a better bond with the concrete.
Nowadays chemicals are combined with the rebar to make the rebar last longer. Water can get inside concrete and cause the rebar to rust, causing it to become weaker. Originally concrete structures were unreinforced. Rebar has been used in construction since at least the 15th century.
American Society of Testing of Materials
A group of scientists and engineers, led by Charles Benjamin Dudley formed the American Society for Testing and Materials in 1898.

Originally called the “American Society for Testing and Materials”, it changed its name to “ASTM International” in 2001. Now, ASTM has offices in Belgium, Canada, China, Mexico and Washington, D.C. Membership in the organization is open to anyone with an interest in its activities. Standards are developed within committees, and new committees are formed as needed, upon request of interested members. Membership in most committees is voluntary and is initiated by the member's own request. Members are classified as users, producers, consumers, and general interest. The latter include academics and consultants. Users include industry users, who may be producers in the context of other technical committees, and end-users such as consumers. In order to meet the requirements of antitrust laws, producers must constitute less than 50% of every committee or subcommittee, and votes are limited to one per producer company. Because of these restrictions, there can be a substantial waiting-list of producers seeking organizational memberships on the more popular committees. Members can, however, participate without a formal vote and their input will be fully considered. As of 2015, ASTM has more than 30,000 members, including over 1,150 organizational members, from more than 140 countries. ASTM International has no role in requiring or enforcing

compliance with its standards. The standards may become mandatory when referenced by an external contract, corporation, or government.