About CIB, and Contents of Documents

About CIB

Objectives

CIB is the abbreviation of the French title of the International Council for Building Research, Studies and Documentation whose purpose as stated in its bylaws is "to encourage, facilitate and develop international cooperation in building, housing and planning research, studies and documentation, covering not only the technical but also the economic and social aspects of building and the related environment".

Since building is the activity through which man seeks to adapt his environment to better serve his purposes, CIB's sphere of interest covers a wide range. Some primary topics are:

• the planning, utilization and adaptation of the environment to the extent it directly influences the building activity,
   
• the entire domain of building science and technology including engineering, economics, industrial management, the sociological and social questions related to the analysis of building needs,
   
• the bridge between scientific innovation and full-scale application, preparation and provision of the information for different user categories, development of information techniques and systems, development work involving both research and industry.

CIB is thus an organization with comprehensive interests in building and the building industry and it frequently collaborates with various international organizations whose interest in building is of a more specialized nature.

Membership

Membership is essentially institutional. Most members are national institutes engaged in research, information and development activities. Among these institutes are building research establishments which have existed for longer or shorter periods, institutes specializing in information, associations devoted to one particular group of materials, research sections of universities, national and international research groupings, etc. Virtually all major research institutes around the world (in nearly 60 countries) are now Members. CIB also turns its eyes towards industry and invited firms with a major research capability to become Members.

Such institutions and firms may elect to apply for Full Membership or Associate Membership where the scale of their operations determines which category is appropriate. Annual membership fees are calculated according to a formula with several variables such as GNP, population, etc.

It should be pointed out that CIB does not have "member countries" and that CIB membership is not restricted to one single institution per country. There may be - and there often is - a substantial number of institutions in the same country that are CIB members.

A third membership category, Unattached Membership, affords the possibility of individual membership to those experts who are able to male personal contributions to CIB's work but who cannot easily establish a liaison via a member institution.

Activities

How does CIB aim at achieving its objectives? Firstly, through a network of highly specialized Working Commissions and Steering Groups. Members appoint representatives to those groups engaged in fields of particular interest to themselves which provides them with the unique opportunity of keeping abreast with international research trends.

The Groups operate in a wide variety of fields such as structural safety, timber structures, heat and moist transfer, tolerances, acoustics, low cost housing and construction organization and management, to name but a few. A significant sphere of operations is information and documentation. It is here that CIB had its origins.

Secondly, through organizing Congresses, Symposia and Colloquia on themes of general and particular interest. The CIB Congress itself, held every third year, has become a major event on the international construction research calendar. Working Commissions and Steering Groups meet more frequently.

Thirdly, through its publishing activities. The results of Working Commissions and the Proceedings of Congresses are made available to practitioners and researchers everywhere. The CIB Journal, Building Research and Practice, appears six times a year in English and French. It is considered a "must" on the desks of building scientists throughout the world.

International Building Research 
and Documentation Council

This website contains the documents of the CIB Working Commission W84 "Building Non-Handicapping Environments" published up to 1994. For more recent publications and the present acticvities of CIB W84 see the International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation's homepage.

CIB is the abbreviation of the French title of the International Council for Building Research, Studies and Documentation. CIB's purpose is to facilitate and develop international cooperation in building, housing and planning research, studies and documentation, covering not only the technical but also the economic and social aspects of building and the related environment. CIB with its over 100 Working Commissions works through Congresses, Symposia and Colloquia. Working Commission W84 "Building Non-Handicapping Environments" was founded in 1984 with founding coordinator Professor Sven Thiberg, Department of Building Function Analysis, Department of Architecture, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.

The Department of Building Function Analysis, Department of Architecture, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm studies the relationship between man, built environment and society. The original focus has shifted from the definition of spatial and other basic functional user requirements to more complex aspects of the use of buildings and urban environments including decision processes in planning, building and management as well as housing in developing countries. The aim is to provide data and arguments to enable environmental designers and users to advocate users' interests in the planning process and to widen the public debate in cultural, economic and political terms.


Contents

Stockholm Seminar: Building Concept for the Handicapped.
Report of the International Expert Seminar in Stockholm, April 10-12, 1984.
Stockholm: The Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Building Function Analysis, 1987. Ratzka, Adolf Dieter, Editor.

Prague Seminar: Renewal of Inner Cities and Accessibility for Old and Disabled Citizens.
Proceedings of the Second CIB W84 Expert Seminar 'Building Non-Handicapping Environments', Prague 1987.
Stockholm: The Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Building Function Analysis, 1988. Ratzka, Adolf Dieter, Editor.

Tokyo Seminar: Accessibility in Developing Countries.
Proceedings of the Third CIB W84 Expert Seminar 'Building Non-Handicapping Environments', Tokyo, 1988.
Stockholm: The Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Building Function Analysis, 1989. Ratzka, Adolf Dieter, Editor.

Budapest Seminar: Access Legislation and Design Solutions.
Proceedings of the Fourth CIB W84 Expert Seminar 'Building Non-Handicapping Environments', Budapest 1991.
Stockholm: The Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Building Function Analysis, 1992. Ratzka, Adolf Dieter, Editor.

Harare Seminar Access Legislation and Design Solutions.
Proceedings of the Fifth CIB W84 Expert Seminar 'Building Non-Handicapping Environments', Harare, January 1991.
Stockholm: The Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Building Function Analysis, 1992. Ratzka, Adolf Dieter, Editor.

Montevideo Seminar: Legislación sobre accesibilidad - soluciones de diseño.
CIB W84 Seminario-Taller Montevideo, Uruguay, Mayo de 1992.
Stockholm: The Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Building Function Analysis, 1993. Eléna Siré, Editor.