News Detail

ACI 318-19 – The Essential Code

8/7/2019

The first reinforced concrete building code, titled "Standard Building Regulations for the Use of Reinforced Concrete," was issued by the National Association of Cement Users (now American Concrete Institute) in 1910. In the intervening years, many additions and changes have been made to improve the code for structural concrete design and construction users.

The release of the new ACI 318-19 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete will ensure that concrete industry professionals have the most up-to-date requirements necessary to ensure public health and safety. The first to be published since the format of ACI 318 was reorganized in 2014, it is anticipated that it will be referenced in the 2021 International Building Code (IBC).

Now containing full color three-dimensional illustrations to improve clarity, ACI 318-19 features clear language and style consistency and is organized so that engineers have increased confidence they have satisfied all necessary code requirements.

ACI 318-19 also includes major changes in higher reinforcing steel yield strengths; the addition of shotcrete and deep foundation provisions; seismic requirements for deep foundations and other applications; vertical seismic motions; nonlinear analysis for seismic design; modification to development length equations; and updated shear design provisions and equations.

ACI 318 is one of the most essential and valuable standards with respect to the design of concrete structures. The United States and countries around the world base their national building codes on all or part of ACI 318. ACI continues its efforts domestically and internationally for the adoption of ACI codes and standards.

ACI 318-19 is available in print and digital formats (hard and soft cover) at concrete.org. Versions are currently available in English with inch-pound units and in Spanish with SI units – additional versions and languages will be available soon. ACI 318-19 is also immediately available to subscribers of the online  ACI Collection of Concrete Codes, Specifications, and Practices. ACI 318 Plus – a new product currently in development and targeted for launch in mid-2020 – will provide subscribers with digital/interactive access to ACI 318-19 along with access to related resources. 

Learn more about the latest edition of ACI 318 by attending the public seminar “ACI 318-19: Changes to the Concrete Design Standard.” Seminars begin September 2019 and are being held in over 20 different locations.