Tolerances for Masonry Construction

A seminar by the Canada Masonry Design Centre
Sponsored by the Atlantic Masonry Institute

Over the past year the masonry industry has formed a new industry group. Masons, suppliers and manufactures from all of Atlantic Canada have gotten together and formed AMI-Atlantic Masonry Institute. This organization’s goal is “Promotion of Masonry Through Training and Support”, training and support for both contractors and the design community.

AMI has entered into a joint venture with the Canadian Masonry Design Center- CMDC and opened an office in Dartmouth Nova Scotia. CMDC is the national hub for all things masonry and is staffed by 6 masonry engineers ready to assist in your design challenges. CMDC has offices in Calgary, Saskatoon, Toronto and now Dartmouth. AMI/CMDC has recently hired a new masonry engineer to work out of our Dartmouth office as well.

You are invited to a free information session to hear more about this partnership, more about CMDC and what kind of support they can offer designers. While you are here Joe Wierzbicki and Andrew Smith from CMDC will provide an hour long presentation on masonry standards and tolerances, from product manufacturing to masonry installations. This will be the first in a series of sessions to be offered to the design community in an effort to increase comfort level in designing with masonry.

The seminar will begin with some information on the CMDC. From there it will shift towards a discussion on the tolerances within masonry design and construction. This seminar will cover topics such as tolerances of masonry units, mortar joint thickness, lateral/level/vertical/relative alignments of installation, placement of reinforcing, air spaces, and viewing of masonry. The discussion will include references to the associated CSA standards as well as visual examples. Participants of this seminar will also gain an understanding of common issues regarding tolerances, implications to design, and the interplay between the CSA standards.

• This event is provided at no charge thanks to the Atlantic Masonry Institute.
• Light refreshments will be provided.

Below are the dates and times for these sessions:

• Fredericton NB – Tuesday, November 13th – 1pm to 3pm – Delta Hotel
• Saint John NB – Wednesday, November 14th – 9am to 11 am – Delta Hotel
• Moncton NB – Wednesday, November 14th – 2pm to 4pm – Delta Hotel
• Halifax NS – Thursday, November 15th – 10am to 12pm – Delta Hotel
• Saint John’s NL – Friday, November 16th – 10am to 12pm – Delta Hotel

If you and your staff are planning on attending please RSVP to:

• Bill Gaines of Shaw Brick bggaines@shawbrick.ca for New Brunswick sessions,
• John Nevan McCulloch of Shaw Brick jnmcculloch@shawbrick.ca for Nova Scotia sessions, and
• Craig Stead of Shaw Brick cstead@shawgroupltd.com for Newfoundland.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Bill Gaines, Treasurer
Atlantic Masonry Institute

JOE WIERZBICKI M.A.Sc. PEng

Joe is a Masonry Design Engineer at the CMDC.  Joe received a Maser of Applied Science degree from McMaster University in 2010.  Joes has been with the CMDC ever since and in addition to working with various on-going projects, such as the development of MASS™ software, CMDC’s Engineered Masonry Design Course, and CSA Standards development, Joe provides technical support to engineers, architects, and association members.  Technical support provided includes but is not limited to constructability, detailing, design philosophy of structural and non-structural masonry assemblages as well as non-masonry components, and CSA Standards interpretation.  In conjunction with technical support Joe also provides on-site support, visiting projects and providing 3rd party opinion regarding observed masonry behaviour or to facilitate dispute resolution.

ANDREW SMITH M.A.Sc. EIT

Andrew is the newest member of the CMDC team and is bringing CMDC services to Atlantic Canada with the opening of a new office in Dartmouth NS.  Andrew completed a Master of Applied Science degree from Dalhousie University in 2018.  Andrew’s duties involved providing technical assistance to association members, architects and engineers, supporting CMDC with courses and seminars, participating in the development of the CSA masonry standards and the MASS™ design software.

=======================================================

The Canada Masonry Design Centre (CMDC) is a not-for-profit association created and funded by its members to bridge the gap between the design community and the masonry construction industry  The primary responsibility of the CMDC is to encourage the effective use of masonry through research, education and technical support.