Evolution of Turkish and Canadian Seismic Design Building Codes

This paper is part of a special issue related to the seismic performance of buildings, bridges, foundation and other lifeline infrastructure observed during the 2023 Turkish earthquake. The seismic performance of these infrastructure is highly dependent on the building code design requirements. This paper focuses on the comparative analysis of the evolution of seismic design building codes in Türkiye and its comparison with the Canadian building code. Both nations have transitioned from simplified seismic hazard maps and prescriptive design approaches to probabilistic seismic hazard assessments and performance-based design. Key areas of comparison include the development of design objectives, the refinement of seismic hazard maps, advancements in demand calculation methods, irregularity provisions, and the adoption of dynamic and nonlinear analysis techniques are summarised. By examining these codes’ historical development, this study sheds light on major differences and similarities of seismic design codes between these two countries over the years.