The Masonry Society offers secure, electronic access to construction standards

Ann Arbor, Mich.—Thomson Reuters and The Masonry Society (TMS) announced a new agreement to provide downloadable PDF files of TMS standards on www.masonrysociety.org and www.techstreet.com. Included in the collection are the following three TMS standards, all of which are expected to be referenced by the 2009 International Building Code:

• 2008 Masonry Standards Joint Committee’s Masonry Structures and Specification for Masonry Structures (TMS 402/ACI 530/ASCE 5 and TMS 602/ACI 530.1/ASCE 6)
• Code Requirements for Determining Fire Resistance of Concrete and Masonry Construction Assemblies (ACI 216.1-07/TMS-0216-07)
• Standard Method for Determining the Sound Transmission Class Rating for Masonry Walls (TMS 0302-07)

TMS standards are now available via the Techstreet website at www.techstreet.com. Techstreet has also built and launched the new TMS Download Store on the TMS website (www.masonrysociety.org), where users and members can easily find TMS standards in electronic PDF format for immediate download, plus access to Techstreet’s comprehensive online database of more than 400,000 codes and standards from 350 publishers worldwide.

"TMS has wanted to make its standards more accessible, but has been worried about copyright protection," said Ray Miller, TMS president. "Techstreet provides a trusted, one-stop source for user-friendly e-commerce with downloadable electronic files and bulletproof copyright protection."

To safeguard against copyright infringement, Techstreet will encrypt Adobe PDF versions of the standards with digital protection that saves the file to the purchaser’s computer but prevents copying, e-mailing, or installing the file on networks or websites. The purchaser will be able to print the standards for their own use.

Techstreet, a service of Thomson Reuters, uses web-based technologies to speed delivery of industry codes and standards to engineers and technical professionals worldwide. Documents are easy to locate in a freely searchable online database, and are available for purchase in single-copy format or multi-user, web-based subscription at www.techstreet.com.