(Note: before you buy any of these books singly, paying shipping for each, check the PE exam study materials page on Amazon. It can save you some green on cover prices, and also on shipping (free on orders over $35.)
The California state-specific Seismic Principles exam for April and October, 2015 will be based on ASCE7-10 and the 2013 CBC, which is based on the 2012 IBC. Though the books I originally researched change every few years, the sources are likely to remain the best sources for price, or to at least remain very competitive.
The California state-specific Seismic Principles exam for April and October, 2015 will be based on ASCE7-10 and the 2013 CBC, which is based on the 2012 IBC. Though the books I originally researched change every few years, the sources are likely to remain the best sources for price, or to at least remain very competitive.
The below is copied directly from the pels.ca.gov website (with purchase notes added after each code book):
Design of Wood Structures ASD/LRFD
6th Edition, 2007
Donald E. Breyer, Kenneth J. Fridley, Kelly E. Cobeen
McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York
Cheapest find for Design of Wood Structures ASD/LRFD (6th Ed): Amazon.com (note that shipping is free, compared to typical $3.99 elsewhere.)
Seismic Design Handbook, 2nd Edition, 2001
2006 Design of Reinforced Masonry Structures
July 2007
Chukwuma G. Ekwueme and Gregg Brandow
Concrete Masonry Association
6060 Sunrise Vista Drive, Suite 1875
Citrus Heights, CA 95610
(916) 722-1700
Cheapest find ($80) for Design of Reinforced Masonry Structures: The Masonry Society website: https://www.2paysecure.com/tms/cart/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=128
However, the overall cheapest price ($88.20) is at Amazon. This is because the Masonry Society charges $10 for basic UPS ground shipping. They do not offer USPS mail.
2006 IBC Structural/Seismic Design Manual, Volume 1
Code Application Examples and Building Design Examples
Structural Engineers Association of California
International Code Council
5360 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601-2298
1-800-284-4406
www.iccsafe.org
Cheapest find: Amazon, through codeitusa. Note that Amazon, and DealOz both perform searches of multiple sites. However, for the above books, I found cheaper prices at Amazon. For your convenience, I have a "Search for Reference Book Deals" box directly to Amazon in the right margin of this blog. Copy the code book titles, and paste them into the search box.
2006 IBC Structural/Seismic Design Manual, Volume 2
Building Design Examples for Light Frame, Tilt-up, and Masonry
Structural Engineers Association of California
International Code Council
5360 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601-2298
1-800-284-4406
www.iccsafe.org
2010 California Building Code, Volume 2 (CCR, Title 24, Part 2, Volume 2)
International Code Council
5360 Workman Mill Road
Whittier, CA 90601-2298
1-800-284-4406
Important Note: If you have the 2009 IBC, that is an equal substitute, and you will not need to purchase the 2010 CBC in addition. Both refer to ASCE7 2005 for seismic. The California Board website makes this statement.
Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures
American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE/SEI 7-05
ATC-20 Procedures for Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings and ATC-20-1 Field Manual: Postearthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings, 2nd Edition
1995
Applied Technology Council
(650) 595-1542
www.atcouncil.org
ATC 20 costs: Used copies are $20 to $100 from associated sellers at Amazon. Buy new from atcouncil.org for $24. ($31.98 total after tax and cheapest USPS Priority Mail for $5.70.) Total from Applied Technology Council is still less than what I found at Amazon, except for one offering in “good” condition from a 93% positive feedback seller.
The ATC-20 totals to $48.41. See my post Is ATC 20 Worth the Investment ?
Design of Wood Structures ASD/LRFD
6th Edition, 2007
Donald E. Breyer, Kenneth J. Fridley, Kelly E. Cobeen
McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York
Civil Engineering Reference Manual. If you're not crazy, this book is required. It is not listed by the NCEES, mind you. However, in every other sense of the word "required", you better have the CERM. Click the link to go to a site which searches for the cheapest price on the CERM.
Study Materials for the PE exam: Remember, Amazon is the biggest selling powerhouse on the Internet. Any seller selling on Amazon must offer their lowest price on Amazon; they must match or lower the retail cost. So, Amazon (barring irregularities) will always be the cheapest portal to buy PE exam books.
For a massive collection of carefully screened PE Sample Exams, Seismic prep material, and review books for most every exam type, visit the PE Exam Study Materials store on Amazon.
The California Civil Seismic Exam Review page ranks the top 7 books and DVDs for review.
I think buying each and every one of these books is excessive. I passed with only the Hiner manual, the ASCE-7 and the CBC. I think this is all that most people use to pass and all that Hiner himself recommends. Buying all the books listed above would cost way too much and is not necessary.
ReplyDeleteptatohed:
DeleteYou may be correct. I did not have the Hiner book, and I passed- but on the second effort. There were two key reasons for my failure:
1. I failed to respect the exam, and did almost no prep for it.
2. On exam day, I was unfamiliar with managing my time on the much-shorter exam. I wasted time on some problems that required looking up information, which I knew was somewhere... and kept thinking I would find it in the next section. I had to use completely random guessing to bubble the last 14 answers (might have been more). Second time around, I completely finished, and even reviewed some of the more challenging questions to ensure they were correct.
Thank you for sharing your experience.