The 2016 AISC Code of Standard Practice for Steel Buildings and Bridges (ANSI/AISC 303-16) is now available as a free PDF download at www.aisc.org/2016code.
“The most fundamental change is that the Code is now an ANSI-approved consensus document,” commented Charles J. Carter, AISC’s incoming president. "The composition of the Committee that developed it has equal representation from industry, design professionals, and general interest members. This includes structural engineers, architects, a building official, a general contractor, fabricators, detailers, erectors, inspectors, and an attorney.”
“The Code defines the statement of custom and usage for fabricated structural steel,” said Code Committee Chair Babette C. Freund, president of Universal Steel of North Carolina. “This is important to all; you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you have a new project.”
Also of note is that portions of the Code have been incorporated by reference into the International Building Code. The IBC references ANSI/AISC 360 (the AISC Specification) and ANSI/AISC 341 (the AISC Seismic Provisions), and these documents both reference parts of the Code. A complete list of these parts is provided at www.aisc.org/303IBC.
Beyond the basic change of making the Code a consensus document, modifications have also been made in the 2016 revision. See the list of modifications to the Code in AISC’s announcement.
Since the first edition of the Code was published in 1924, AISC has constantly surveyed the structural steel design community and construction industry to determine standard trade practices. Since then, this Code has been updated periodically to reflect new and changing technology and industry practices. The Code is significant and important to the process of buying and selling fabricated structural steel. Its provisions are balanced, fair, and consensus-based, and provide for the vast majority of work in standard form.