Tips & Tricks

December 29, 2025

What’s New for IBC 2024 in RISA: A Closer Look

With RISA’s latest release of RISA-3D v23.0.1, we’re continuing to expand support for IBC 2024, helping engineers stay aligned with the latest building code requirements as adoption accelerates across the U.S.—including federally funded projects. This release builds on v23.0.0 ASCE 7-22 enhancements and adds key material design updates that move RISA further into full IBC 2024 compliance. New Material Design Updates Supporting IBC 2024 The upcoming release introduces several important design code updates referenced by IBC 2024, including: Steel Seismic design per AISC 341-22 Prequalified connections per AISC 358-22 Continued support for AISC 360-22 (16th Edition) steel design Ongoing updates to the hot-rolled shape database, including compatibility with both 15th and 16th Edition steel manuals These updates support modern seismic detailing requirements and ensure consistency with current steel industry standards. Masonry Masonry design per TMS 402-22, aligning with the latest strength and serviceability provisions adopted by IBC 2024. Key updates include: Revisions to shear design equations, including clarified definitions of shear area as outlined in Table 4.4.5, improving consistency and transparency in shear capacity calculations. Updated strength reduction factors for flexure and combined flexure + axial. Unlike previous editions that used a fixed ϕ-factor of 0.9, TMS 402-22 introduces tension-controlled,…

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Foundation Design according to Eurocode 2
August 30, 2019

Foundation Design according to Eurocode 2

RISAFoundation v12 includes mat slab, concrete beam and pedestal design according to Eurocode 2. For more information, check out the video below.

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Nested Load Combinations in RISAFoundation
August 30, 2019

Nested Load Combinations in RISAFoundation

RISAFoundation includes the ability to utilize “nested” load combinations. Currently, the Load Combinations spreadsheet in RISAFoundation is limited to ten columns of Basic Load Cases (BLCs) and Factor combinations. However, there are times where you may need to include additional entries to your...

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How to Create and Apply A Custom Rebar Layout
December 20, 2018

How to Create and Apply A Custom Rebar Layout

Applying a Custom Rebar Layout in RISA-3D: To begin creating a custom rebar layout, simply click the Custom Rebar Layout button located in the Advanced tab of the ribbon toolbar.

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Mat Slab Overturning and Sliding Safety Factors
November 8, 2018

Mat Slab Overturning and Sliding Safety Factors

RISAFoundation v11.0 includes two new tabs in the Safety Factors results spreadsheet that breakdown the slab’s stabilizing and destabilizing forces for each category. The new Overturn/Resist by Category and Sliding/Resist by Category tabs make it easy to understand how the program calculates the...

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Soil Overburden on Mat Slab
November 1, 2018

Soil Overburden on Mat Slab

RISAFoundation can apply soil overburden to a mat slab to account for the weight of the soil above the foundation. Simply enter a Soil Overburden pressure value for your foundation design in the Slabs spreadsheet. The soil overburden load is utilized to help the mat slab resist overturning during...

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What’s New in the NBC 2015?
October 26, 2018

What’s New in the NBC 2015?

The 2015 NBC compliant codes have been implemented into RISA-3D v17.0, RISAFloor v13.0 and RISAFoundation V.11.0!

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ASCE 7-16 Is Now Available!
October 25, 2018

ASCE 7-16 Is Now Available!

The 2016 edition of ASCE Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-16) is now available in RISA-3D v17.0, RISAFloor v13.0, and RISAFoundation v11.0!

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Passive Resistance for Mat Slabs
September 20, 2018

Passive Resistance for Mat Slabs

RISAFoundation includes the added ability to enter a passive pressure for slabs. The passive pressure represents soil pressure along the perimeter of the slab and will contribute to the sliding resistance of the slab.

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Governing Load Combinations for Shear in Concrete Columns
August 2, 2018

Governing Load Combinations for Shear in Concrete Columns

For concrete column members, the load combination producing the maximum shear code check is reported in the Detail Report and corresponding Results spreadsheet. Since concrete is evaluated based on a batch solution, this can be useful when shear governs the design.

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