Heights and Areas

Wood construction offers distinct design options typically not found in a single structural material. It is inexpensive, readily available, easy to work with, strong and adaptable. The economic, environmental and energy-efficiency advantages account for more buildings being constructed of wood than any other structural material.

The Heights and Areas (H&A) Calculator is a joint effort of the American Wood Council, International Code Council, and WoodWorks – The Wood Products Council. It provides users with an app-based approach to calculating maximum heights and areas for buildings of various occupancies and fire protection based on 2006 to 2015 editions of the International Code Council’s International Building Code® (IBC®) provisions. Input a given building geometry, site conditions (e.g., open frontage), type of construction and occupancy, and allowable heights and areas can be determined.

This H&A Calculator is not meant to be a replacement for the IBC and does not encompass all of its design options. The IBC should always be consulted for final construction type determination, in addition to state and local amendments to the IBC that may apply.

About the American Wood Council (AWC) On behalf of the industry it represents, AWC is committed to ensuring a resilient, safe and sustainable built environment. To achieve these objectives, AWC contributes to the development of sound public policies, codes and regulations that allow for the appropriate and responsible manufacture and use of wood products. We support the utilization of wood products by developing and disseminating consensus standards, comprehensive technical guidelines and tools for wood design and construction, as well as providing education regarding their application. Contact AWC via email: [email protected] or connect with one of AWC’s regional building code experts.

About WoodWorks WoodWorks – Wood Products Council provides free technical support as well as education and resources related to the code-compliant design of non-residential and multi-family wood buildings. WoodWorks field teams have expertise in a wide range of building types including mid-rise/multi-family, schools, commercial, office, institutional and public. Our objective is to make it easier to design, engineer and construct wood buildings at less cost. If you have a wood building project that could use some technical support, email the Project Assistance Help Desk, contact a technical expert near you or use the staff list to contact any member of the WoodWorks team.

About the International Code Council (ICC) The International Code Council is a member-focused association with over 64,000 members. It is dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design, build and compliance process to construct safe, sustainable, affordable and resilient structures.