Proposed change to AISC Code of Standard Practice debated at NASCC The Steel Conference in Phoenix

A proposed change to the American Institute of Steel Construction’s Code of Standard Practice for Steel Buildings and Bridges was the subject of a debate at NASCC The Steel Conference in Phoenix on April 1, 2009.

The proposed change involves Section 3.1.2 of the AISC Code of Standard Practice, related to who may be the owner’s designated representative for connection design in structural steel construction.

The proposed change would permit the owner’s designated representative for design (usually the structural engineer of record) to permit a licensed professional engineer working for the steel fabricator to design the connection in the project’s structural design drawings or specifications.

Glenn Bishop, PE, a senior principal at LBYD Inc., a structural engineering firm HQ’d Birmingham, Ala., supported the change, stating that it is already the practice in more than 30 states.

Opposing the change was D. Kirk Harman, PE, SE, president and managing principal of The Harman Group, Philadelphia. Harman said the connection is “the most complicated part of steel construction” and “the most common cause of failure” in structural steel buildings. He expressed concern about liability issues if Section 3.1.2 is adopted.

AISC vice president Charles J. Carter, PE, SE, told Building Design+Construction that the proposal will go out for comments by AISC members by May and could be expected to reach the AISC code committee in late fall 2009, for release by the AISC board of directors in 2010.

The debate took place at the Phoenix Civic Plaza Convention Center, where more than 3,000 designers, engineers, detailers, steel fabricators, and erectors met April 1-4, 2009.

AISC vice president Scott Melnick told media representatives that the 2010 NASCC The Steel Conference will be co-located with the Structures Congress in Orlando, Fla., in May 2010.

More info: www.aisc.org
312-670-2400