Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a prefabricated solid engineered wood product made of at least three orthogonally bonded layers of solid-sawn lumber or structural composite lumber that are laminated by gluing of longitudinal and transverse layers with structural adhesives to form a solid rectangular-shaped, straight, and plane timber intended for roof, floor, or wall applications. While this engineered wood product has been used in Europe for over 15 years, the production of CLT and design of CLT structural systems have just begun in North America. For the acceptance of new construction materials or systems in North America, such as CLT, a consensus-based product standard is essential to the designers and regulatory bodies. This paper describes and documents the background information and some key issues that were considered during the development of the ANSI/APA PRG 320 Standard for Performance-Rated Cross Laminated Timber. This standard was developed based on the consensus standard development process of APA-The Engineered Wood Association as a standards developer accredited by the American National Standards lnstitute (ANSI). The CLT stress classes incorporated in this product standard are also discussed. The ANSI/APA PRG 320 standard has been approved by the Structural Committee of the lnternational Code Council (lCC) for the 20'15 lnternational Building Code (lBC).
