The 1991 Uniform building code wind load provisions: Fid-Bau Portal

The 1991 Uniform building code wind load provisions

P.E. Sheffield, James W. / P.E. Barbera, Jerry J.

AbstractThe wind load requirements of the Uniform Building Code™ (U.B.C.), was promulgated by the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO), have historically been based on the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standard A58.1, currently the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) standard ANSI/ASCE 7–88. The provisions contained in the 1991 edition of the U.B.C. remain based on ANSI A58.1-1972 with updating to ANSI A58.1-1982 and other changes.Additions and refinements have been made to the 1991 U.B.C. to bring the wind load design provisions of Chapter 23 into closer agreement with ANSI/ASCE 7–88, while retaining the code's traditional simplified approach. For the first time, an exposure similar to Exposure D in the standard has been added for coastal areas and shorelines, along with appropriate new coefficients to govern the design of buildings sited adjacent to large bodies of water.Also new to the 1991 U.B.C. are detailed, prescriptive criteria for conventional wood and masonry buildings located in high-wind areas. These criteria modify existing provisions in Chapters 24 and 25 for construction of such buildings without an engineered design. The criteria were developed over a three-year period to provide conventional buildings with improved wind resistance and to mitigate damage from hurricanes, tornadoes and other high-wind events.