Strength You Can Count on for  Cost Effective Masonry Designs

The New York State Concrete Masonry Association (NYSCMA) has developed a program which will assure the availability of high strength concrete masonry units across New York State.   Participating "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" block producers manufacture every stock, regular production concrete masonry unit to a higher standard for net area unit strength.  NYSCMA oversees the program by maintaining a record of current initial tests, and managing a random testing program.

The "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" raises the bar for net area unit strength of stock, standard production concrete masonry units. All block from participating "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" manufacturers must comply with a 28 day net area unit compressive strength of 2800 psi, compared to the current ASTM C 90 “Standard Specification for Load Bearing Concrete Masonry Units” which requires only 1900 psi.

When the unit strength method is employed to determine the “Compressive Strength of Masonry” (ƒ’m), 2800 psi net area unit strength equals ƒ’m 2000; when the prism test method (ASTM C 1314) is used, ƒ’m 2500 can be achieved. The current ASTM standard 1900 psi net area unit strength equates to ƒ’m 1500.

The "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" requires participating producers to test and submit the ƒ’_m of their block using both the unit strength and prism strength methods.  Now engineers will be given the physical properties of the block and wall assembly on every job during the submittal process. 

Higher ƒ’_m means a more efficient, cost effective design: less reinforcement will be required; lap lengths of vertical reinforcement will be reduced, and in some cases, thinner concrete masonry units can be used. These are just a few examples; consult your local "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" manufacturer for complete details.

The "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" offers architects and engineers consistently higher quality concrete masonry units.  Design professionals can have increased confidence in the quality of concrete masonry across the state because "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" producers have tested these higher strength units in advance at the National Concrete Masonry Associations’ (NCMA) Laboratory. To assure consistency and compliance to the program, NYSCMA randomly tests block from "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" producer's stock. 

Participating manufacturers can qualify normal weight units, light weight units, or both for inclusion in the Program. 

To learn more about the F'm2000-NYSCMA Advantage click here.

To find a participating "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" block producer in your area, click here.

To download the "F'm2000-NYSCMA Assurance of Quality Program" MasterSpec  click here