THE MASONRY SOCIETY

TMS is a professional, technical and educational association dedicated to advancing knowledge of masonry, and it is the organization that develops TMS 402/602, the standard referenced by the International Building Code for masonry design and construction.

WHAT TMS DOES FOR THE INDUSTRY

The Masonry Society is a professional, technical and educational association dedicated to advancing the knowledge of masonry. Its contribution to the industry is the one every other organization depends on: it maintains the design standard, publishes the research behind it, and teaches practitioners how to apply it. Members are design engineers, architects, builders, researchers and others; the work happens in committees that connect them through active professional networks, and at an annual meeting with education sessions and committee meetings.

STANDARDS AND CODE INVOLVEMENT

TMS 402/602, Building Code Requirements and Specification for Masonry Structures, contains two standards and their commentaries. TMS 402 covers the design and construction of masonry structures; TMS 602 sets minimum construction requirements, including the quality assurance provisions used for masonry inspection. Both are written as legal documents so they can be adopted by reference in building regulations; the commentaries explain background, committee rationale and the research behind the provisions, and are advisory only.

Older specifications may cite the same documents as “MSJC,” from the era when the standards were developed jointly with the American Concrete Institute and the Structural Engineering Institute of ASCE through the Masonry Standards Joint Committee; TMS has been the sole sponsor since that committee was re-designated, and the content line is continuous. The International Building Code references TMS 402 and TMS 602 for the design and construction of structural masonry, veneer and glass unit masonry, which is how the standard reaches state and local code.

TECHNICAL RESOURCES AND PUBLICATIONS

• TMS 402/602 In print, online subscription and offline secure formats, with multi-user and bulk options for firms and classrooms.

  
  

• Masonry Designers' Guide The companion design reference that works the code provisions through examples.

• TMS Journal  North America's only technical journal dedicated to research, construction, materials and design of masonry — peer-reviewed work on shear walls, out-of-plane wall design, beam detailing, seismic provisions and code comparisons.
  

• Newsletters and Q&A TMS e-newsletters, e-news briefs and TMS Responds answer common — and not-so-common — questions on masonry and report on research efforts; the sustainability e-news has been offered free to all.

EDUCATION AND THE NEXT GENERATION

TMS developed a Masonry Education Hub as a central location for masonry education aimed primarily at designers, university faculty and students, gathering videos, recorded webinars, Night School classes and university courses in one place and letting users track educational hours toward their own credentials. Night School modules include masonry basics and masonry testing of units, mortar, grout and assemblies.

WHY IT MATTERS IN NEW YORK

New York's building code is built on the International Codes, which reference TMS 402/602 — so the provisions a New York engineer designs to and an inspector enforces are written in TMS committees. Two practical consequences: keep the edition question straight, because the edition referenced by the code in force governs, not the newest one published; and if you want to influence a provision rather than just comply with it, committee participation is the route.

WHERE TO START

• masonrysociety.org — membership, committees, education and the annual meeting

• TMS 402/602 — editions, formats and change summaries

• standards.masonrysociety.org — the online standards library

• journal.masonrysociety.org — TMS Journal articles and author information