CONCRETE MASONRY & HARDSCAPES ASSOCIATION
Updated: 3 hours ago
If you have ever pulled a TEK note to size a lintel or check a retaining wall, you have used CMHA. It is the North American association for segmental concrete products, formed by bringing two century-old organizations into one.
WHAT CMHA DOES FOR THE INDUSTRY
The Concrete Masonry and Hardscapes Association advances the industry through education, technical resources, workforce development and advocacy. It is the North American association for segmental concrete products, formed by the unification of the National Concrete Masonry Association and the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute — which is why its technical library carries both the NCMA TEK notes and the interlocking pavement standards under one roof.
Members include producers, suppliers, contractors, designers and architects across the United States and Canada, and the segments it serves span concrete masonry, segmental concrete pavement, segmental retaining walls, pavers, permeable pavers, slab, articulating concrete block and manufactured stone veneer.
TECHNICAL RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS
TEK / Tech Notes
A series of technical topics for industry professionals, each focused on a specific issue in concrete masonry and hardscape design and construction — unit properties, structural design, detailing, movement control, water penetration resistance, construction practice. The TEK numbering carried forward through the unification; the documents are now published as CMHA Tech Notes.
Details
Downloadable construction details that reduce design and detailing time on a CMU or hardscape project.
Software
Free design software packages for different components of concrete masonry and hardscape systems, plus links to limited-time trials of more extensive packages. Design manuals and calculation tools cover concrete masonry structures, segmental retaining walls and pavement systems.
Concrete Masonry Designs
Archived issues of the association’s design magazine, including case studies, building features and best practices for concrete masonry and hardscape products.
Other Resources
Publications, research reports, frequently asked questions, videos and industry links.
A Physical Laboratory
Members get access to the association's technical and promotional libraries and to the laboratory where products, materials and techniques are tested and optimized.
Research Funding
The affiliated NCMA Foundation funds industry research and education projects, including grants to other organizations, such as the development of a central masonry education hub.
STANDARDS, CODES AND ADVOCACY
CMHA publishes the methods and specifications used across the industry and cited in professional manuals, and it participates in the standards and code processes that govern segmental concrete products. Advocacy is one of the four pillars of its mission, so the provisions that shape what you can specify and how it has to be built are argued with the industry at the table.
EDUCATION, CERTIFICATION AND WORKFORCE
The association offers certification programs and educational courses built around practical application of industry knowledge and the problems that recur in the field, delivered through a learning management system alongside in-person events, trade shows and its annual meeting.
WHY IT MATTERS IN NEW YORK
CMHA’s resources are national, which is what makes them useful statewide: a specifier in Buffalo and an inspector in Nassau County can work from the same published TEK notes and test methods. NYSCMA acts as the state-level gateway to those national technical resources; CMHA is where the resources themselves are produced and kept current.
WHERE TO START
cmha.org — association home, membership, events, news, insights, TEK resources, and the technical library
NCMA Foundation — funded research and education projects
