Government of NWFP Pakistan

DESIGN GUIDELINES AND

CONSTRUCTION OF

EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT

MASONRY STRUCTURES

March 2006
(Version 01)

Prepared By: Earthquake Engineering Center

Department of Civil Engineering
NWFP University of Engineering & Technology Peshawar

Approved By: Government of NWFP Technical Committee for Development of Sarhad

Interim Seismic Building Code

Prepared on: March 20, 2006

Effective From:
Effective To: Next Version
 EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING CENTER
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
NWFP UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY, PESHAWAR

Guidelines for Design and Construction of Earthquake Resistant Masonry

Structures

1. Design Loads
1.1. Ordinary buildings shall be designed for peak ground acceleration
corresponding to design-based earthquake with a return period of 475 years.

1.2. Unreinforced brick masonry for ordinary buildings fulfilling all the
requirements of gravity load design shall only be allowed in areas with
design peak ground acceleration up to 0.20g provided that:
a) requirements as explained in section 3.1 through 3.5 are fulfilled.
b) first class solid fired clay bricks with a minimum compressive
strength of 1,500 psi are used.
c) masonry mortar with a compressive strength not less than 800 psi
and not greater than 75% of the compressive strength of the
masonry unit is used.
1.3 For areas with design peak ground acceleration greater than 0.20g, masonry
buildings shall be constructed with confined masonry or reinforced masonry,
as shown in figure 1.

2. Requirements for Seismic Bands

2.1. All masonry walls of the building shall be connected at the lintel level by a
continuous reinforced concrete beam, known as Lintel band, with a
minimum depth of 6 inches, as shown in figure 2. The beam shall be
provided with minimum longitudinal steel area of 1.0% of the gross area of
the cross-section, or 0.44 in2, whichever is greater. The stirrups shall be at
least ¼ inch in diameter and spaced at not more than 6 inches.

2.2. In cases where the roof is not a reinforced concrete slab, then the roof shall
be connected with the walls of the masonry buildings at the roof level by a
continuous reinforced concrete beam, known as Roof band with a minimum
depth of 9 inches, as shown in figure 2. The beam shall be provided with
minimum longitudinal steel area of 1.0% of the gross area of the cross-
section, or 0.88 in2, whichever is greater. The stirrups shall be at least ¼ inch
in diameter and spaced at not more than 4.5 inches.

Earthquake Engineering Centre, Deptt. Of Civil Engineering, NWFP UET, Peshawar Page 1
 2.3. Gable band shall also be provided in case of gable walls with a minimum
depth of 9 inches, as shown in figure 2. The beam shall be provided with
minimum longitudinal steel area of 1.0% of the gross area of the cross-
section, or 0.88 in2, whichever is greater. The stirrups shall be at least ¼
inch in diameter and spaced at not more than 4.5 inches.

3. Planning and Layout for Masonry Houses

3.1. The plan shape shall be simple and rectangular.

3.2. The length of the building shall be limited to four times its width. In cases
where longer building is required, another unit shall be built separated from
the first one at a minimum distance of 8 inches, as shown in figure 3.

3.3. The building structure shall be approximately symmetrical along each

principal axis in plan, for both stiffness and mass distribution.

3.4. A sufficient number of load bearing walls with approximately the same
stiffness, shall be provided in both principal direction of the building, as
shown in figure 4.

3.5. Total dimension of projections, reentrant corners or recesses in one direction

shall be limited to 25% of the overall dimension of the building in the
corresponding direction, as shown in figure 5.

3.6. Dynamic analysis should be carried out if guidelines 3.1 through 3.5 of this
section (as explained in figures 3 through 5) cannot be followed due to
architectural and/ or other requirements.
3.7. Mixed structural systems, such as a combination of masonry structural walls
in one level and RC frame in the next shall not be allowed. In cases where
large openings are present in the floor, such as for stairways, the perimeter
of the opening shall be strengthened with a reinforced concrete bond beam.

3.8. The permissible height H in meters and number of stories n of masonry

buildings shall not exceed the recommended values specified in the table
given on page 3:

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 Design Peak Ground Acceleration, ag < 0.20g 0.2~0.3g ≥ 0.30g

Dressed natural stone H (m) 6 3 --

masonry n 2 1 --

Unreinforced brick or H (m) 12 9 6

hollow block masonry n 4 3 2

H (m) 18 15 12
Confined masonry
n 6 5 4

H (m) 24 21 18
Reinforced masonry
n 8 7 6

3.9. The minimum thickness of shear walls shall be selected as under;

Masonry type Minimum thickness t, inches

Unreinforced with natural dressed stone
15
units
Unreinforced, with any other type of units 9
Confined masonry 9
Reinforced masonry 9

3.10. The maximum effective height of the shear walls shall be selected from
the wall effective height to wall thickness ratios given as under:

Wall effective height to thickness

Masonry type
ratios (heff/t)
Unreinforced with natural dressed stone
9
units
Unreinforced, with any other type of units 12
Confined masonry 15
Reinforced masonry 15

3.11. The minimum length of wall between openings shall be selected from the
wall length to wall thickness ratios given as on page 4:

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 Masonry type Wall length to thickness ratios
(L/t)
Unreinforced with natural dressed stone
units 0.5

Unreinforced, with any other type of units 0.4

Confined masonry 0.3*
Reinforced masonry No Restriction
* Ratio can be decreased below 0.3 provided that integrity of the wall in the direction of the opening
is properly taken care of.

4. Openings in Walls

4.1. Openings shall be located away from the inside corner by a clear distance
equal to at least 1/4 of the height of openings but not less than 2 ft (e.g., b5
in figure 6).

4.2. The total length of openings shall not exceed 50 percent of the length of the
wall between consecutive cross walls in single-storey construction, 42
percent in two-storey construction and 33 percent in three storey buildings.

4.3. The horizontal distance (pier width) between two openings shall be not less
than half the height of the shorter opening (i.e. b4 ≥ h1 /2 or h2 /2 as shown in
figure 6)., but not less than 2 ft.

4.4. The vertical distance from an opening to an opening directly above it shall
not be less than 1/2 of the width of the smaller opening (i.e. h3 ≥ b2 /2 or b8/2
as shown in figure 6) nor 2 ft.

Earthquake Engineering Center

Department of Civil Engineering
NWFP UET Peshawar
Ph.No: 091-9218223
E-mail: drakhtarnaeem@nwfpuet.edu.pk
drqaisarali@nwfpuet.edu.pk

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 i. Confined masonry

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 ii. Reinforced masonry

Figure 1. Confined and reinforced masonry

ii: Reinforced masonry

Fig.1 Confined and Reinforced masonry

Figure 3: Irregular configurations in plan should be separated in regular portions

Figure 2 : Location of Seismic Bands in a building

Figure 4: Structural walls distribution in plan

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Figure 5- Examples of regular configuration of masonry houses
 Figure 6. Recommendation regarding openings in bearing walls

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