FRP rebar are the future… and staking their claim, in waxing confidence as a commercially viable,

The pioneering efforts by the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA) paved the way for the acceptance of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites in the International Building Code (IBC) in 2009 as a construction material both interior and exterior, through inclusion of appropriate requirements to allow their use in a manner intended by the code alongside traditional building materials.

It has always been a Herculean task in getting composites specified as a viable alternate material in different market segments – storming the bastion of traditional materials such as steel, aluminum, concrete, timber has never been easy. In building construction, the concept of being heavy has always been synonymous with strength. The fact that designers & architects have generally been conservative in their approach; preferring to err on the side of caution, when it comes to specifying composites for load-bearing structures in civil engineering, is well known. For sure, there has been a sea change over the years on such thinking; aided largely by hours of testing leading to establishment of codes of practice and eventually international standards, to instill confidence that composites are a “light weight-high strength-safe option”.