Oregon Code Officials First To Approve Hybrid Mass Timber Buildings
Oregon has become the first state in the U.S. to provide a prescriptive path for the construction of hybrid tall-timber buildings.
The Statewide Alternate Method, SAM No. 18-01, issued Aug. 8 by the State Building Codes Division, is based on provisions developed by the International Code Council's tall wood building ad hoc committee.
The provisions call for the use of concrete, steel or masonry for the vertical elements of the seismic force-resisting system.
The state move is based on the approval by ICC of 14 provisions put forth by the TWB at the ICC's committee action hearing in April. The ICC action "reinforced the overwhelming scientific evidence for the codification of prescription allowances for this construction material and method," according to the state's Building Codes Division.
Previously, the state code limited mass and heavy timber buildings to six stories.
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