ICC-ES to Evaluate Alternative Seismic Force-Resisting Systems in Light of ASCE 7-16 Adoption into the 2018 IBC
New Acceptance Criteria to be developed and based off FEMA P-695

BREA, CALIF. — ICC Evaluation Service (ICC-ES), the experts in building product evaluation and certification, has recently made the decision to evaluate Alternative Seismic Force-Resisting Systems.

This decision was based on the adoption of ASCE 7-16 into the 2018 International Building Code (IBC), allowing the use of rational methodology for the validation of design criteria for Seismic Force-Resisting Systems.

Previously, ICC-ES had limited their evaluations of Seismic Force-Resisting Systems to either those structural systems recognized in ASCE 7-10 or those that could be shown to be equivalent to one of the structural systems recognized in ASCE 7-10. Due to the recent code change, ICC-ES can now develop new Acceptance Criteria on Alternative Seismic Force-Resisting Systems using the principles in FEMA P-695.

“We are pleased to announce the decision to evaluate Alternative Seismic Force-Resisting Systems,” said ICC-ES Vice-President of Engineering Gary Nichols, P.E. “ICC-ES continually evaluates products to the latest codes, and we encourage all manufacturers to also comply with the latest codes for market acceptance.  Please look for the proposed new criteria to be posted on our Alternative Criteria Development Process Agenda for comment in the near future.”

For more information about updating your building or plumbing product’s code compliance to the 2018 International Codes, contact ICC-ES at 800-423-6587 or es@icc-es.org.