The 2015 Edition of the Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings (ANSI/AWC WFCM-2015) was approved on October 10, 2014 as an ANSI American National Standard (Figure 1). The 2015 WFCM was developed by the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Wood Design Standards Committee and is referenced in the 2015 International Residential Code (IRC) and 2015 International Building Code (IBC). …

The 2015 Edition of the National Design Specification^® (NDS^®) for Wood Construction was recently published. The updated standard designated ANSI/AWC NDS-2015 was approved as an ANSI American National Standard on September 30, 2014 (Figure 1). The 2015 NDS was developed by the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Wood Design Standards Committee and is referenced in the 2015 International Building Code (IBC). …

The Wood Frame Construction Manual (WFCM) for One- and Two-Family Dwellings was updated and is designated ANSI/AWC WFCM-2012 (Figure 1). The 2012 WFCM was developed by the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Wood Design Standards Committee and is referenced in the 2012 International Residential Code (IRC) and 2012 International Building Code (IBC). …

The model building codes in the U.S. cover virtually every safety-related topic associated with construction of buildings. Fire-related issues comprise a surprisingly large portion of the model codes. Designing for fire safety is a complex and multifaceted issue. Discussion in this article is limited to design of exposed wood members. Additional information on building code requirements for wood can be found in the American Wood Council’s (AWC) Code Conforming Wood Design documents, available for free download. …