×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

(OP)
Hi,
What would be the most useful code for seismic design purposes? Up to now we have always got parts of the national codes from our clients and used them.
We would like to purchase a code which covers seismic design in case the target country does not have a national one.

I know this is a stupid question but what are the main differences between UBC 1997 and say IBC 2003? Are they the same thing but meant for different areas of the world.

I would be grateful if those of you who know about these codes could comment on this.

Cheers

RE: Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

The UBC was a regional building code that was used in the western United States before the formation of the International Code Council.  It is now still used by only a few states and will soon be obsolete.  IBC would be a better purchase.

RE: Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

If you don't have the building code for that particular country, how will you be ble to get the values you need to calculate the seismic forces?  

Why not buy both for the company?

RE: Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

(OP)
@UcfSE
According to Taro (thank you by the way), UBC is a regional code in the US and since we are located in Europe and most of our clients are in south-east Asia, buying a soon to be obsolete code seems to be a waste of money. That is why I asked the question in the first place since I was not aware of the differences between the two.

Our clients usually give us the values we need for an specific code and portions of the code which we need for the analysis.

What is the latest IBC version? Are there any revisions to the code soon? Should we wait for that or buy the current one?

Are there any other books/literature you recommend for seismic analysis and design?  

RE: Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

The current version of the IBC is 2006.  The code revision cycle is currently 3 years (there is some talk of extending it to 6 years), so the next edition will not be until at least 2009.

RE: Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

The IBC is only for the United States.  The term "International" Building Code is a misnomer.  It doesn't have any seismic design values for other countries.

RE: Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

(OP)
The few codes that I have seen are very similar to each other. So is it then safe to assume that by buying (and following the guidelines in)IBC which is probably the backbone of many other national codes, most of the seismic design issues are covered?
 
The values needed for the calculations may not be found in IBC itself (or UBC for that matter) but corresponding values for areas outside of the US can be found and adapted to these codes.

RE: Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

The IBC is not strictly "only for the United States".  There are many countries around the world that use American (or European, etc.) codes because they do not have the resources to develop their own.  There are other sources of seismic design values (such as the US military document UFC 3-310-01) that can be used.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources