News Detail

Saudi Building Code National Committee Signs Agreement with ACI

4/12/2018

Prof. Ahmed B. M. Shuraim (left) and Ronald G. Burg, agreeing to use of ACI 318, ACI 301, and more, in the Saudi Building Code

Leaders of the Saudi Building Code National Committee (SBCNC) recently entered into an agreement with the American Concrete Institute to cooperate towards a better understanding and use of concrete and cementitious materials in civil infrastructure. 

The agreement – signed in Salt Lake City, UT, USA, at The Concrete Convention and Exposition, by Ronald G. Burg, Executive Vice President of the American Concrete Institute, and Dr. Saad O. Alkasabi, Chairman of the Saudi Building Code National Committee – provides a framework for cooperation. 

Specifically, the agreement provides permission to utilize ACI’s Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318), Specifications for Structural Concrete (ACI 301), and Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures (ACI 530), to develop a Saudi Building Code. 

Once the Saudi Building Code is published, ACI content modified to accommodate local conditions will be readily available to engineers, professors, students, and the governments of the region. 

SBCNC and ACI have also agreed to further expand their technical coordination through designation of official organizational representatives at technical seminars and symposia.  SBCNC will encourage individuals involved in the concrete industry to attend ACI conventions, become active members of ACI committees, and participate in the ACI Saudi Arabia Chapter or one of ACI’s many chapters in the Gulf region. 

“Information sharing strengthens the global concrete industry,” stated Ronald G. Burg, Executive Vice President, American Concrete Institute. “The combination of ACI’s immense consensus-based knowledge and the great innovation taking place in Saudi Arabia moves the industry toward the shared vision for a future where everyone has the knowledge needed to use concrete effectively.”

First published in 1941 as the Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete, ACI 318 provides minimum requirements for the materials, design, construction, and strength evaluation of structural concrete members and systems.  Used by hundreds of thousands of concrete industry professionals since then, ACI 318 is currently available in U.S. Customary and Metric units, with versions in English, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), Korean, and Spanish.  ACI 318 is included in the current International Building Code, and by more than 30 countries directly adopting or referencing its provisions. 

The rapid construction growth in the Gulf region has led to an increase in the use of ACI 318 and acknowledgement that ACI’s 318 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete is one of the most essential and valuable standards with respect to the design of reinforced concrete structures.

Additional information about the agreement and the American Concrete Institute is available on www.concrete.org.  Additional information on the Saudi Building Code National Committee is available here.