The American Wood Council published the 2027 edition of the Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic (ANSI/AWC SDPWS-2027), the wood product industry’s standard for designing in high seismic and wind zones. The new edition has been approved as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute and will be referenced in the 2027 I-Codes.
The 2027 SDPWS is the result of five years of technical work and two years of balloting under ANSI’s consensus-based process, including 13 rounds of balloting and a full public review period before reaching final approval. As an ANSI-approved standard, SDPWS is typically updated every six years to ensure its provisions stay aligned with other design references and new research, which gives designers assurance that they are using the most up-to-date provisions.
These new tools include two new systems, the Post-Tensioned Timber Rocking Wall and a new sheathed wood-frame High-Capacity One-Sided Shear Wall system, that ultimately give designers more flexibility in wood construction.
Among numerous other changes, the design provisions for cross-laminated timber diaphragms were also revised, drawing on new full-size CLT diaphragm test data, the same research that is now being used to support new seismic design force reduction factors for CLT diaphragms in ASCE 7-28.
With SDPWS complete, AWC is finishing updates to the Permanent Wood Foundation Design Specification later this year, then turning to updates for the 2024 National Design Specification for Wood Construction, the 2024 Fire Design Specification for Wood Construction, and the 2024 Wood-Frame Construction Manual for One- and Two-Family Dwellings.
The 2027 SDPWS is available to view online, and will be available for purchase in 2027.
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