John M. Hochwalt is Director of Engineering for the Seattle structural group of KPFF Consulting Engineers. John has practiced structural engineering for over thirty-five years since receiving his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University. He has led the structural design for a wide variety of projects, including research facilities, corporate campuses, and public art. John has authored and edited several publications on the design of masonry structures, and frequently speaks on related topics. He is also actively involved in the development of the building code, serving as chair of the TMS 402/602 subcommittee for Seismic and Limit Design, as a voting member of the TMS 402/602 Main Committee, and as a voting member of the committee that produces the model code provisions for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.
In practice, the building code can be a blessing – representing a treasury of wisdom about the design, construction, and performance of buildings. It can also be a curse – confusing to understand, challenging to apply and restricting of innovation. Why is this so? Is there a better way?
Our exploration of the history and application of the building code will start with considering the how engineers think about the building code through a series of metaphors, and then proceed to consider the following questions:
- Why do we have a building code? Learning from the past, protecting the public.
- What is the role of the Building Code in engineering practice? A blessing and a curse.
- How did we get here? A brief history of building codes in the United States.
- Where are we going? The current state of code development and the role of research.
- Is there a better way?