GCC Standardization Organization signs agreement with ACI

Farmington Hills, Mich. — Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Standardization Organization recently entered into an agreement with the American Concrete Institute (ACI) to cooperate toward a better understanding and use of concrete and cementitious materials in civil infrastructure.

The agreement — signed in Doha, Qatar, by Ronald G. Burg, Executive Vice President of the American Concrete Institute, and Dr. Nabil bin Ameen Molla, Secretary General of the GCC Standardization Organization — provides a framework for cooperation.  Specifically, the agreement provides permission to utilize ACI’s Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete (ACI 318), Specifications for Structural Concrete (ACI 301), and Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures (ACI 530), to develop a Gulf Building Code.  Once the Gulf Building Code is published in late 2019, ACI content modified to accommodate local conditions will be readily available to engineers, professors, students, and the governments of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.

GSO and ACI have also agreed to further expand their technical coordination through designation of official organizational representatives at technical seminars and symposia.  GSO will encourage individuals involved in the concrete industry to attend ACI conventions, become active members of ACI committees, and participate in ACI’s many chapters in the Gulf region.  ACI also plans to be more active in Gulf region activities focused on concrete design, construction, and materials.

“Our global concrete community is strengthened by knowledge sharing and togetherness,” stated Ronald G. Burg, Executive Vice President, American Concrete Institute.  “Combining ACI’s one-hundred-plus years of consensus-based knowledge with the tremendous innovation occurring now in the Gulf region will accelerate us all toward the shared vision for a future where everyone has the knowledge needed to use concrete effectively.  On behalf of the Institute’s 20,000 student and professional members globally, I eagerly await the many fruits will that come from this strengthened relationship.”

First published in 1941 as the Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete, ACI 318 provides minimum requirements for the materials, design, construction, and strength evaluation of structural concrete members and systems.  Used by hundreds of thousands of concrete industry professionals since then, ACI 318 is currently available in U.S. Customary and Metric units, with versions in English, Chinese (traditional), Chinese (simplified), Korean, and Spanish.  ACI 318 is included in the current International Building Code, and by more than 30 countries directly adopting or referencing its provisions.

The rapid construction growth in the Gulf region has led to an increase in the use of ACI 318 and acknowledgement that ACI’s 318 Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete is one of the most essential and valuable standards with respect to the design of reinforced concrete structures.

Additional information about the agreement and the American Concrete Institute is available on www.concrete.org. Additional information on the Gulf Cooperation Council Standardization Organization is available at https://www.gso.org.sa/.