Which code to buy? IBC? UBC?

[Mertsi1340]

Hi,
What would be the most useful code for seismic design purposes? Up to now we have always got parts of the national codes from our clients and used them.
We would like to purchase a code which covers seismic design in case the target country does not have a national one.

I know this is a stupid question but what are the main differences between UBC 1997 and say IBC 2003? Are they the same thing but meant for different areas of the world.

I would be grateful if those of you who know about these codes could comment on this.

Cheers

 

[Taro]

The UBC was a regional building code that was used in the western United States before the formation of the International Code Council. It is now still used by only a few states and will soon be obsolete. IBC would be a better purchase.

 

[UcfSE]

If you don't have the building code for that particular country, how will you be ble to get the values you need to calculate the seismic forces?

Why not buy both for the company?

 

[Mertsi1340]

@UcfSE
According to Taro (thank you by the way), UBC is a regional code in the US and since we are located in Europe and most of our clients are in south-east Asia, buying a soon to be obsolete code seems to be a waste of money. That is why I asked the question in the first place since I was not aware of the differences between the two.

Our clients usually give us the values we need for an specific code and portions of the code which we need for the analysis.

What is the latest IBC version? Are there any revisions to the code soon? Should we wait for that or buy the current one?

Are there any other books/literature you recommend for seismic analysis and design?

 

[Taro]

The current version of the IBC is 2006. The code revision cycle is currently 3 years (there is some talk of extending it to 6 years), so the next edition will not be until at least 2009.

 

[eric1037]

The IBC is only for the United States. The term "International" Building Code is a misnomer. It doesn't have any seismic design values for other countries.

 

[Mertsi1340]

The few codes that I have seen are very similar to each other. So is it then safe to assume that by buying (and following the guidelines in)IBC which is probably the backbone of many other national codes, most of the seismic design issues are covered?

The values needed for the calculations may not be found in IBC itself (or UBC for that matter) but corresponding values for areas outside of the US can be found and adapted to these codes.

 

[Taro]

The IBC is not strictly "only for the United States". There are many countries around the world that use American (or European, etc.) codes because they do not have the resources to develop their own. There are other sources of seismic design values (such as the US military document UFC 3-310-01) that can be used.