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By Jack Maxwell
Jan 05, 2026
Our earliest ancestors sought shelter and protection from the elements in caves and other natural enclosures. As mankind evolved, our lodgings did as well. But whether it’s a Roman-era domus, a medieval peasant’s cottage, or a modern split-level, one architectural element has remained relatively constant: the wall.
Of course, this is not to say that the ways in which walls are designed and constructed have remained static. While it’s been a while since any groundbreaking advances have been made in basic elements of wall construction – gypsum board, plaster, metal lath and furring, studs – the cumulative effect of ongoing efforts to improve raw material inputs, product design, and installation methods is significant.
Keeping up with these changes requires a dedicated group of stakeholders who are continually developing and refining the standards the industry relies on for guidance and support. As we’ll see, the members of ASTM International’s committee on gypsum and related building materials and systems (C11) are working to ensure that the necessary standards are up to date and accurately address what’s going on in manufacturing facilities and on jobsites.
The rapid pace of technological advancement is one of the defining features of our modern era. Smart refrigerators, autonomous vehicles, AI – new generations seem to appear before we’ve fully grasped the capabilities of the previous ones.
Gypsum panel and stucco (also known as portland cement-based plaster), on the other hand, are kind of old school. The blink-and-you-missed-it evolution that characterizes many high-tech product categories does not occur in the wall and ceiling products industry. Changes in material composition, application methods, and installation techniques are generally incremental rather than dramatically new.
“You can’t compare us to digital technology,” says Fabio Esguerra, who recently stepped down after serving several terms as C11 chair. “Talking about the last 20 years or so, at times the segment changes but it’s fairly slow, a lot slower than what we deal with in the digital environment. When new products or application approaches do come along, they tend to result in revisions to existing standards rather than entirely new ones. So you have standards that are specifications with detailed parameters. Then you have test methods, which describe the procedures used to attain those data values. Then you have the application and installation guidelines.”
A look at the 60-plus standards that fall within the purview of this committee provides a window into this phenomenon. Many, even those that were approved more recently, are already being updated. According to Esguerra, most of these active standards are so widely utilized, so thoroughly integrated into the built environment, that market-driven revisions are frequently required – often well before the automatic five-year review that is part of the ASTM process.
The reasons for this constant churn vary depending on the stakeholder.
For gypsum panel manufacturers, more stringent building requirements lead to development of new gypsum panels. To ensure that these new gypsum panels will perform and meet the needs of installers and building owners, they are evaluated to test methods to determine their performance. For drywall contractors, new gypsum panels might spur modification of installation procedures.
These scenarios drive the steady stream of revision that is a fact of life for committee members.
C11 standards can be grouped into three primary categories. First, there are product specifications for physical and mechanical properties. There are also test methods used to evaluate the performance of gypsum panels, stucco, furring accessories, and other wall components. These standards guide manufacturers in their quality-control processes to ensure that products meet the specifications, and third-party testing agencies involved in the certification of assemblies using these products.
Esguerra believes the third standards category has a much broader reach. “What impacts more folks is really the application and installation guidelines
for these products,” he says. “And those are the ones that I think are more impactful to the industry, as they’re not only for the U.S. but they’re more globally accepted as well. Those are the ones that are more visible and more heavily referenced, because you only have a few manufacturers compared to how many folks are out there actually applying the products.”
Terry Kastner, who chairs the subcommittee on specifications for the application of gypsum and other products in assemblies (C11.03), echoes this sentiment. He cites three particular standards as being most impactful: the standard specification for application and finishing of gypsum board (C840); the standard specification for application of portland cement-based plaster (C926); and the standard specification for installation of lathing and furring to receive interior and exterior portland cement-based plaster (C1063).
The C840 back story is an interesting case study of how ASTM standards often become industry standards. Kastner explains that until relatively recently, the various methods used to judge gypsum board finishes emanated from trade groups like the Wall and Ceiling Alliance – and were not referenced in the International Building Code (IBC). This was also the case for evaluation of painted surfaces. “Inspectors would unfairly evaluate the surfaces by using harsh lighting, touching the wall, applying straight edges to the surfaces, and viewing the surfaces from whatever distance they chose, even as close as six inches,” Kastner says.
Standards ensure the products inside our walls are safe and work properly.
About ten years ago, the Gypsum Association’s GA-216 and GA-214 standards (application and finishing of gypsum panel products and levels of finish for gypsum panel products, respectively) were finalized. Shortly thereafter, C840 was approved. Among their many provisions, these standards provided specific criteria for appraising gypsum board. As Kastner points out, “No longer could the method of judging gypsum board be arbitrary and based on the whims of an inspector or others. In referencing these standards, the IBC mandates that inspections must be conducted under normal lighting, and no closer than five feet.”
The history of C926 illustrates how ASTM standards change along with the products they reference. This specification covers the minimum technical requirements for the application of full thickness portland cement-based plaster for exterior (stucco) and interior work, and has been updated annually since 2011, with some years featuring multiple revisions.
According to Kastner, “For many years, C926 described the application of three-coat stucco, providing the ‘recipes’ for the ratio of stucco ingredients: proportions of portland cement, lime, masonry cement, plastic cement, sand, and perlite, all with their specific ASTM standard. On every jobsite there would be a pile of sand and bags of other ingredients.
“This all changed about 15 years ago when manufacturers began making ‘bagged’ stucco,” he continues. “The only ingredient that had to be added was water. No more shovels of sand to so many shovels of cement, to so much lime, to so many fibers. No longer did you have piles of sand, where the quality was suspect, taking up space, and no longer did you have one person, with that shovel, responsible for proper mixing. You now had consistent quality and proper proportioning of stucco.”
Kastner believes that the popularity of stucco claddings and the universal use of gypsum board as a finish product in residential and commercial construction is the reason these three standards are so universally referenced. “To that end, the members of C11 are determined to ensure that the information provided in these standards is not only accurate but also clearly stated so the applicator, design professional, and code official are consistent in their interpretation of the standards.”
Accuracy is obviously of paramount importance when dealing with a constant flow of revisions. “Many of these standards have been in use for over 40 years. The C1063 and C926 stucco standards have been around for at least 75 years,” says Kastner, who has been very involved in latter-day revisions to C926. “When you have materials that predate the 1997 adoption of the IBC and International Residential Code, some of the methods or instructions for construction may be based on experience and not necessarily testing. C11 strives to ‘clean up’ the standards, removing information that cannot be corroborated as fact.”
In particular, Kastner points to the 2009 Energy Code and subsequent addendums, noting that it significantly altered both the materials applied to building exteriors and the way those materials are applied. “The changes introduced by the Energy Code modified installations and resulted in the creation and development of new products for weather-resistant barriers, rainscreen systems, air-barrier testing and construction methods, and more. With new materials and modified means of construction comes the necessary oversight by organizations like ASTM to ensure that the new products perform as advertised,” he says.
Long-time C11 member Pamela Shinkoda feels that of all the standards promulgated by the committee, the most impactful is one of the fundamental building blocks of all its work: the standard specification for gypsum board (C1396).
“It sets the basis for the physical and mechanical properties of the most widely used product line in the gypsum industry: gypsum board, also commonly known as wallboard,” she says. “Almost all habitable buildings in developed countries incorporate the use of gypsum panels, either just for appearance or, when required, for fire-resistance attributes. You’ll find C1396 referenced in numerous building codes.”
A so-called platform standard, C1396 is the starting point for new standards that incorporate requirements specific to the special properties of newly developed gypsum board products. The standard specification for glass mat gypsum panels (C1658); the standard specification for glass mat gypsum substrate for use as sheathing (C1177); and the standard specification for coated glass mat water-resistant gypsum backing panel (C1178) are examples of such standards.
Newer generation gypsum panels that feature laminated construction or fiber reinforcement are also covered by standards that build on the foundation established by C1396 – specifically, the standard specification for factory-laminated gypsum panel products (C1766) and standard specification for fiber-reinforced gypsum panel (C1278).
As is the case with most of the committee’s standards, the ones Shinkoda references here are often tweaked to improve their utility. “Sometimes we’ll make changes to our standards, like requiring standardized print across manufacturers to assist in the identification of the gypsum products,” she says. “This standardized marking helps consumers trace back to the manufacturer of the product and the country of origin. We have also recently refined C840 to reflect changes to materials that are used as part of the systems that create the walls and ceilings in our living spaces.”
C11’s domain extends beyond gypsum panels to encompass complementary wall construction and finishing products like stucco, lathing, and furring. “In recent years, some decades-old practices covered by C1063 and C926, as well as the more recent standard specification for lathing and furring accessories, and fasteners, for interior and exterior portland cement-based plaster (C1861), have had significant updates,” says Shinkoda.
Standards developed by the committee also address framing materials (standard specification for nonstructural steel framing members, C645); fasteners (standard specification for steel self-piercing tapping screws for application of gypsum panel products or metal plaster bases to wood studs or steel studs, C1002); and finishing products (joint treatment materials and joint compound and tape, C474 and C475, respectively).
“The products have been around for a long time, but a lot of work has gone into updating the installation practices to reflect current requirements,” Shinkoda notes.
As one might expect from a committee covering an industry to which change comes slowly, there are no earthshaking new standards in progress within C11. However, recent developments in wall construction accessories are reflected in its ongoing efforts.
Increased use of plastic is one such area. Esguerra points out that steel-based corner bead, the industry norm for decades, is being challenged by growing interest in alternative materials. “We’re seeing the market overall go more into plastic and paper corner bead,” he says. “The committee is now working on how to derive specifications and test methods for plastics where there was just metal in the past.”
Another fairly new standard for gypsum ceiling panels was approved in 2024: the standard practice for design, construction, and material requirements for direct hung suspended T-bar type ceiling systems intended to receive gypsum panel products in areas subject to earthquake ground motions (C1858). “As the title implies, this standard was developed in response to a new grid product for suspended gypsum board ceilings. This was a big change in the framing materials for ceiling systems and the industry in general,” Kastner says.
Whether it’s a standard practice for a new ceiling system or yet another revision to an ever-evolving gypsum panel installation method, the work of C11 helps ensure that new structures are safe and comfortable. “The committee remains active and diligent in reviewing and updating their standards for products that people are probably unaware are being improved all the time, ensuring constant and consistent performance once installed and subjected to daily use,” Shinkoda concludes. “Remember that many of our products create the built environment that we inhabit every day of our lives.” ●
Jack Maxwell is a freelance writer based in Westmont, NJ.
January / February 2026
