Oregon is the first state to allow wood buildings to exceed six stories without special consideration under the Oregon Building Codes Division’s recent statement of alternative method (SAM), which provides prescriptive path elements for mass timber construction. The SAM establishes three new types of construction—Type IV A, B and C—that allow buildings to go as high as nine to 18 stories with varying percentages of exposed timber surfaces and sprinkler system requirements.

Oregon based its directive, which is intended to be consistent with the use of cross-laminated timber and structural composite lumber, on two years of work by the ICC’s Ad Hoc Committee on Tall Wood Buildings.