Product Review

Prepared by the Committee on Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures of the Codes and Standards Activities Division of the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures, ASCE/SEI 7-16, provides the most up-to-date and coordinated loading standard for general structural design. ASCE 7-16 describes the means for determining design loads including dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind, and fire, as well as how to assess load combinations. The 2016 edition of ASCE 7, which supersedes ASCE/SEI 7-10, coordinates with the most recent material standards, including the ACI, AISC, AISI, AWC, and TMS standards. Significant changes in ASCE 7-16 include the following: - new seismic maps reflecting the updated National Seismic Hazard Maps; - new wind speed maps, including new Hawaii maps, that result in reduced wind speeds for much of the United States, clarified speci