Updating China's Building Codes

Chinese regulations for wooden structures are dictated by the GB50005, which lists the recognized wood products permitted for construction. Currently, the Chinese Timber Code Committee staff is working on an updated version of this code after ten years since the last edition, incorporating grades and species from the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Kevin Cheung has made a submission to the Committee to incorporate the reliability-compliant design values for North American NGR dimension lumber, MSR lumber, and Structural Timbers. By including these values in Chinese standards, we create opportunities for increasing the use of North American lumber products in China--a country that is already the largest softwood trading partner of the U.S. (not including Canada), with a housing start exceeding 10 million a year and a new commitment to increasing wood construction in official buildings.