Report of the MCAA Technical Committee

Words: Jerry Carrier, Jim Tann, Rashod Johnson, Joe Brisch, Timothy HessAs Chairman of the MCAA Technical Committee, I would like to submit the following report to the Board. Since our 2010 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV, we have been working hard to protect the mason contractors’ interests on various technical issues.

Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) TMS 402 / ACI 530

The Masonry Standards Joint Committee (MSJC) has been diligently working on the 2011 edition of the Masonry Code (ACI 530).

The last MSJC meeting was held October 17-19, 2010 in Bellevue, WA. While much of the 2011 Code changes are not contentious, there were a couple of items that MCAA is monitoring to ensure our interests are protected. One such item is the ability to increase the setting mortar bed thickness to 1 ¼” to allow for uneven footings and foundations. While this may not seem like much, it will assist the contractors immensely in providing a level first course in the masonry walls. Other items include the removal of the term “unless otherwise required” from the entire Specification. There are other changes, but many are not very contentious items.

The next MSJC meeting will be held May 5-7, 2011 in Minneapolis, MN. Please visit www.masonrystandards.org for additional information.

The Masonry Society (TMS) — Construction Practices Committee

The Masonry Society (TMS)’s Construction Practices Committee is currently working on Pre-Construction Topic Sheets for contractors. Timothy Hess, a mason contractor and MCAA member from Pennsylvania is the Committee Chairman and is working diligently on these topics. Some of the topics include: Mortar Mixing, Mortar Color, Expansion Joins, Copings, etc.

The next TMS meeting will be held May 2-5, 2011 in Minneapolis, MN.

American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM)

The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) held its semi-annual meetings in June and December 2010. Committees C12 for Masonry Mortars and C15 on Manufactured Masonry Unites held task group, subcommittee and main committee meetings 4 days and debated a variety of topics.

C12 — Mortars and Grouts for Masonry Units
Chairman — Joe Brisch, Retired Consultant
MCAA’s technical consultant, Rashod R. Johnson, P.E. continues to serve in various capacities as the Recording Secretary of C12 Executive Committee and task group chair of C12.05.03 — Placement and Production of Masonry Grouts. He also serves on task groups on Pre-blended Mortars, Mortar as Grout, Self-consolidating Grout and Masonry Mortars.

C15 — Manufactured Masonry Units
Chairman — Jim Tann, Brick Institute — Mid-East Region
Mr. Johnson serves on subcommittees C15.02 — Clay Masonry Units, C15.03 — Concrete Masonry Units, C15.04 Research and Test Methods, C15.05 — Masonry Assemblies, C15.11 — Adhered Veneers and various task groups to protect contractors’ interests. His in depth involvement in these Committees allows MCAA to stay informed and ahead of the curve as it pertains to ASTM Standards development.

Subcommittee C15.02 — Clay Masonry Units
C15.02 is the subcommittee that oversees the manufacturing of clay brick (Standards C216, C652 and others).

At last year’s MCAA Meeting, Mr. Jerry Carrier was invited to the annual meeting to discuss the ballot item to increase the void area of “solid” brick from 25% to 30%. As a result of that presentation, MCAA decided to fight this change as we did not feel as though it was in our best interest. After MANY conference calls and meetings, I am proud to say that we were successful in fighting this change in the ASTM Standards. We made phone calls, emails, and in person meetings to “politic” others into voting with us on this topic and it was successful. There will be NO change to ASTM C216’s void area provisions. As a result, the ASTM task group on Void Area was disbanded.

Task Group C15.05.07 — Standard Practice for Masonry Workmanship
There has been a renewed effort to develop this ASTM Standard these past couple of years. Mr. Johnson has resigned from the task group as chairman, but is still a member and will remain active. The task group and subcommittee are planning many conference calls and work group meetings between meetings to push this Standard along faster than in the past.

The next ASTM C12 and C15 Meetings will be held in June 2011.

Standard Practice for Bracing Masonry Walls Update

MCAA has partnered with the International Masonry Institute (IMI) to update the Standard Practice for Bracing Masonry Walls to the 2011 Codes and Standards. It will be based off of the 2011 MSJC (which will be published soon), to ensure that it will remain up to date for years to come.

Once the document in completed, both MCAA’s and IMI’s technical committees will review the document for technical and non-technical content. The 2011 Bracing Standard will be available within the next couple of months.

Masonry Technical Topic Webinars

MCAA has conducted over 10 Masonry Technical Topic webinars for over 40 employees of mason contractors, general contractors and designers in the past year.

As you can see, the Technical Committee has been hard at work over the past year protecting the interests of all mason contractors. We are a largely unseen, but vastly important committee and we need your support.

Should you have any questions about any of these topics, feel free to contact myself or the MCAA technical consultant, Rashod R. Johnson, P.E. at Rashod@rodgrp.com.
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