Celebrating 75 years of deck

What’s on deck for our next 75 years?

The Steel Deck Institute has a lot to celebrate. With 17 members and 9 associate members (and continually growing!) the SDI continues to bring uniformity to the design, manufacture, quality control and construction practices applicable to cold-formed steel decking. Over a 75 year history, the SDI has been the primary resource that designers look to for information concerning steel deck since 1939. We are proud of our achievements and we look forward to 75 more outstanding years!

Our History

The Steel Roof Deck Industry Technical Committee was organized as part of the Committee on Building Codes of the American Iron and Steel Institute in 1939. It produced a draft of a Design Specification for Steel Roof Decking that was first published by the AISI and subsequently adopted in 1945.
 

The name of the organization was changed to the Metal Roof Deck Technical Institute in 1947. It published many editions of a document that included a Code of Recommended Standard Practice, Basic Design Specifications, and a Suggested Architect’s Roof Deck Specification.
 

The name was changed again to become the Steel Deck Institute in 1964. A load table for Narrow Rib Deck was first published in a document identified as Catalog No.17 in 1967. Load tables for Intermediate and Wide Rib Decks were first published in a document titled Steel Roof Deck Design Manual No.18 in 1969.
 

Recommendations for the Design of Composite Steel Floor Deck were first published in a document titled Steel Deck Institute Design Manual for Floor Decks and Roof Decks and identified as Publication No. 23 in 1978. Many editions of this document have subsequently been published, including the currently available Publication No. 31.
 

The SDI has published many other documents throughout its history. The most notable of these is the Diaphragm Design Manual, which was first published in 1981 and is currently in its Third Edition. A Fourth Edition is expected to be published in 2014. Also notable is the Manual of Construction with Steel Deck, which was first published in 1992 and is currently in its Second Edition.
 

In 2012, the SDI published the First Edition of a Roof Deck Design Manual. The First Edition of a companion Floor Deck Design Manual will be published in 2014. These are intended to replace Publication No. 31 and various other design handbooks that have been published in the past.
 

Past SDI Presidents