State of the Standards

Earn 1 PDH / 1 LU

In early fall 2023, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) decided to discontinue their status as an ANSI-accredited Standards Developing Organization (SDO). Standards for the CFS industry were developed and maintained by AISI for over 60 years. With just a few months to explore options, a plan was quickly executed to preserve the CFS construction industry. The AISI standards were transferred to the Steel Deck Institute (SDI), another ANSI-accredited SDO, for safe keeping and to maintain the status of the AISI standards as American National Standards (ANS) Now, a year and a half later, the AISI standards have been distributed among several organizations and work continues on them.

This presentation will give each of the relevant organizations a chance to update designers on which standards they now are in control of, and with what development efforts they are moving forward. There will be ample time allotted for questions from the audience and answers from our panel members. 

Moderator:

Jay Larson, P.E., F.ASCE, SFIA Standards Secretariat (former AISI Managing Director of Construction Codes and Standards)

Panel:

• Patrick Ford, P.E., SFIA Technical Director, Chair of SFIA Standards Committee
• Jon Cardin, P.E., MBMA Assistant Director of Research and Engineering
• Christopher Raebel, P.E., AISC Vice President of Engineering and Research
• Thomas Sputo, P.E., SDI Technical Director

Jay Larson, P.E., F.ASCE
Steel Framing Industry Association

Jay Larson started work as a civil/structural engineer for Bethlehem Steel in 1979. After a series of transitions from construction to facilities engineering, to sales engineering he found himself in the construction marketing department for coated sheet steel where he engaged in product, market, business, and standards development activities. In 1991, he became vice chair of the AISI Committee on Specifications where he was responsible for strategic planning and research. In 1998, he helped establish and became the first chair of the AISI Committee on Framing Standards. In 2003, when Bethlehem Steel closed, he moved to AISI and served as secretary of the Committee on Framing Standards until 2008, when he was appointed managing director of the AISI construction technical program. In that capacity, one of his responsibilities was to serve as secretary of the AISI Standards Council, which was the group that oversaw policies, procedures, strategic planning, and ANSI compliance. Jay left AISI at the end of 2023 when the decision was made by AISI to no longer fund activities related to building construction codes and standards. Jay now serves as the SFIA secretariat. In this capacity he monitors and helps guide the SFIA standards development process to ensure compliance with SFIA policies and procedures and ANSI requirements.

Patrick W. Ford, P.E., S.E.
Steel Framing Industry Association

Pat Ford is the Technical Director of the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA), and formerly principal of Matsen Ford Design Associates, Inc and a senior staff member of R.A. Smith. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Wisconsin and in numerous other states, and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers , Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industries -International, and ASTM International. He is also chairman of the SFIA’s AISI Framing Standards, and is a past President, Director, and Lifetime Member of the CFSEI. He is an alumnus of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

Relative to cold-formed steel structural framing, Pat has 45 years of experience that includes applications of the latest technologies and design concepts to load bearing structures and a wide variety of curtainwall and prefabricated systems. His engineering systems design experience includes structural steel, concrete, engineered masonry, wood and other systems in addition to cold-formed steel. He has building credits throughout the country as well as several projects outside the U.S.

His professional experience is broad, and includes principal management and structural engineering design, managing engineering and business development, and code and standards work. Pat has had numerous volunteer associations over the years, and his favorite outside interests include golf, old cars, cards, art and live theatre. Also when in season - cheering on his beloved Green Bay Packers, Brewers and Bucks.

Jon-Paul Cardin, P.E.  
Metal Building Manufacturers Association

Jon-Paul currently serves as the Assistant Director of Research and Engineering for the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA).  In this position, he assists with directing the technical research and education programs as well as representing MBMA in the national code and standards development arenas. Specifically, Jon-Paul is active on several International Code Council (ICC) codes and standards development committees, including the IBC Structural Code Development Committee, several ASCE 7 subcommittees, and the AISC Standards development committees. Prior to joining MBMA, Jon-Paul served as a Director of Codes and Standards for the American Iron and Steel Institute and managed the engineering department for a steel framing manufacturer. He holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both Civil Engineering (Structural) and Mathematics from the University of Idaho.

Christopher H. Raebel, S.E, P.E., Ph.D.
American Institute of Steel Construction

Christopher H. Raebel, S.E, P.E., Ph.D., is the Vice President of Engineering and Research at the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC).  His expertise includes structural steel design, steel connection analysis and design, robustness in steel-framed structures, floor vibrations due to occupant activities, and engineering education. Before joining AISC in 2022, Raebel was a faculty member and department chair in the Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management Department at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Raebel holds a B.S. degree in Architectural Engineering from MSOE, an M.S. degree in Architectural Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University, and a PhD. degree in Civil Engineering from Marquette University.  He is a licensed professional engineer in seven states and a licensed structural engineer in Illinois.

Thomas Sputo, Ph.D., P.E., S.E.
Steel Deck Institute

Thomas Sputo, Ph.D., P.E., S.E. is vice president of Sputo and Lammert Engineering, LLC in Gainesville, Florida, designing and investigating buildings and other structures. He is also the technical director of the Steel Deck Institute. Tom is a Senior Lecturer Emeritus at the University of Florida, where he taught structural design for over 20 years. He has over 35 years of experience in varied areas of structural design, including specialty engineering of manufactured components. He is a licensed professional engineer or structural engineer in 13 states, and a Special (Threshold) Inspector in Florida.

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