Essential Requirements for Reinforced Concrete Structures of Limited Area and Height

There is a worldwide criticism that current structural design standards and codes might be too complex for many applications. An international agreement between American Concrete Institute—ACI, and two Colombian institutions was signed and as a result, the document ACI 314 Guide to the simplified design of reinforced concrete buildings was developed. Earthquake-resistant requirements are based on the use of structural concrete walls (shear walls) that limit the lateral deformations of the structure and provide lateral strength. The design can be carried out using solely the document and a hand calculator without the need for a computer. The manuscript will focus on the way the document was developed and how it is organized.