The increasing use of masonry as a main structural medium for buildings alerted the Institution of Structural Engineers, some years ago, to the need for guidance on the design of plain (i.e. unreinforced) masonry structures.
The work was begun by a Task Group under the Chairmanship of Keith White, FEng, and culminated in a seminar held in October 1992 to discuss a draft document. This led to the formation of an Editorial Panel which prepared the Manual now being published.
The Manual provides design guidance which complies with BS 5628 and can be applied normally to buildings up to four storeys high. It provides the basis for structural calculations for loadbearing masonry or for the masonry infill of a structural frame.
The work of the original Task Group is gratefully acknowledged. The members of the Editorial Panel carried out extensive redrafting of the Manual in response to comments made at the 1992 seminar and thereafter. I would like particularly to express gratitude for their contributions and also to thank all those whose knowledge and expressed views helped to shape this publication.