IDEERS - Competiton Structure Rules       Back to Main Page>>

Your model only needs to include the main structural frame of a building. You do not need to add the walls on the outside of the building or stairs within.

Your model can be any shape you like, but it must follow these rules.

  1. It must have at least 4 horizontal floors that are represented by flat pieces of paper supported any way you like. A flat roof will be treated as a floor.




  1. Not counting the ground floor, the total area of all of the other floors must be at least 750 sq cm. The maximum area allowed for each floor is 320 sq cm. The floor area includes the space taken by the columns.

  2. The distance between the top of any floor and the bottom of the floor above must be at least 15 cm. The fixings required for the steel blocks in the Rules for Vertical Load do not count as part of the floors.


Remember! You MUST include fixings for the steel blocks on your model to qualify for the final competition.
  1. You must leave 12 mm clear around the edges of the MDF base board, so that we can fix your model to the shaking-table with clamps. However, you may tie string to the corners of the base board only.



  1. In a real building, you would need windows in every storey. So for each storey of your model, half of the outside surface must be left completely clear of any materials between the top of one floor and the bottom of the floor above. ( Examples )

  2. In a real building, people need access to all rooms on each floor. Allow for this in your model by making sure that access is not blocked by partitions, crosspieces or other parts of the structure. So, leave enough space for at least one doorway 10 cm high and 4 cm wide into any rooms that you create.




  1. If your model has been designed to slide or move around on the MDF base, its movement must be limited so that the bottom of the model moves within a 22.5 cm square.

    Hint! Find out about base isolated structures under Resistant Buildings.