City council stares down combustible-material specs in code amendment

Sources: National Ready Mixed Concrete Association, Silver Spring, Md.; CP staff

The Sandy Springs (Ga.) City Council has voted unanimously to amend the city’s building code to include new requirements prohibiting use of combustible materials in the frames and load bearing walls of structures above three stories or 100,000 square feet. The measure comes at a time when many cities are weighing similar measures to increase the resiliency of new buildings.

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Lawmakers scrutinize building codes in wake of multi-story apartment conflagration

Sources: Portland Cement Association, Skokie, Ill.; CP staff

Concrete industry stakeholders are tracking New Jersey officials’ response to a massive fire that destroyed more than half of Avalon at Edgewater, a four-level, 408-unit apartment complex framed with lightweight wood trusses. Reportedly triggered by a plumbing crew’s welding torch, the mid-January blaze saw no loss of life and minor injuries, but displaced more than 1,000 residents of the development and neighboring properties.

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