The codes have provision for that. Some of them accept working stress calculations (accounting of course by the concurring circumnstances).
I posted some sheets for
Masonry Wall Buldings
in the Mathsoft Mathcad 2000 Collaboratory site, where you can download them. The checks would be in accord to the spanish practice but you may elect to search for your applicable code and use it.
Now I list the usual Limit Compressive Design Stress of some masonries
Ladrillo macizo (Brick till 10% voids): 20 kgf/cm2
Ladrillo perforado (Brick over 10% voids): 16 kgf/cm2
Ladrillo Hueco (Brick with transverse voids): 10 kgf/cm2
Concrete Block: 14 to 20 kgf/cm2
Ceramic Block: 16 kgf/cm2
Adobe and Tapial: 1 to 3 kgf/cm2
Cut Hard Stones such Granite and Basalt: 40 to 80 kgf/cm2
Rough Hard Stones such Granite and Basalt: 7 to 25 kgf/cm2
Cut Limestone, Sandstone: 20 to 40 kgf/cm2
Rough Limestone, Sandstone: 6 to 12 kgf/cm2
Cut Soft Limestone or Sandstone: 10 to 20 kgf/cm2
Rough Soft Limestone or Sandstone: 5 to 8 kgf/cm2
These stresses are for squashing and in the limit states checks. Buckling needs as well be considerated in the proper way as in the sheets is indicated (i.e., you can't design directly on the basis of the stated Limit Compressive Design Stress without considering the buckling pehnomenon).
