As part of their work under Phase 2 of the Standards Alliance public-private partnership program, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) collaborated with the American Concrete Institute (ACI) to hold the Enhancing Quality Infrastructure Through Modern Reinforced Concrete Building Codes and Standards workshop on August 24, 2022. The event was a 90-minute virtual introductory training session that focused on existing international standards and regulations for reinforced concrete use in Africa.
The workshop provided an opportunity for building code standards and construction industry experts from Africa and the U.S. to learn about concrete standards and share international best practices for adopting standards that support concrete structural design and growth in Africa. In addition, the event introduced and built awareness of ACI global culture, products, and services that can be adapted to the African terrain.
More than 125 participants representing various agencies in Africa and the U.S. attended the workshop. Representatives from ANSI and ACI— including Charles Nmai, the president of ACI and Steve Szoke, an engineer at ACI — shared their perspectives on international building codes and how ACI products and services can be used to benefit all aspects of concrete design and construction in Africa.
The introductory workshop addressed key topics including:
Among other outcomes, participants identified certain ACI products and services to implement in their respective countries. In addition, ACI affirmed its intent to encourage African construction industries to seek and collaborate with ACI country chapters as they transition to building code frameworks based on global best practices.
The workshop concluded with a Q&A session and in-depth panel discussion that explored the various ways international building codes could be incorporated into the African terrain. Participants discussed next steps for building concrete, policy, and regional harmonization of international building codes standardization in Africa.
The agenda and presentations are available on ANSI’s website.