A Comparative Study of Rectangular Beam Depth Effects Under EBCS-1995 and ES EN-2015 Codes

To achieve structural integrity, serviceability, and economy of buildings, national and international building standards are used for dimensioning and proportioning of structural members. Building codes may be amended due to, the existence of new construction materials, technologies, and structures, and to improve earlier gaps. Ethiopia has experienced three building codes in the last 40 years. Those codes were the Ethiopian Standard Code of Practice, ESCP 1983-1995, Ethiopian Building Code of Standard, EBCS-1995, and the Ethiopian Standard, ES EN 2015. Design code compliance design and supervision of buildings is one of the major ways to achieve the planning, design, construction, service life as well as overall performance of projects. This study is conducted on the depth determination of an interior RC beam with different span and steel grades under EBCS-1995 and ES EN-2015 design codes. The result of this study proves that EBCS 1995 is uneconomical for shear and moment design for longer spans, and preferable for smaller spans, while ES EN 2015 provides smaller serviceable depth and deflection and maintains economical design for longer spans. Construction professionals need to understand the basic purpose of code amendment and should use the new design code as a major design reference and the earlier code accordingly.