With the release of ASCE 7-22, the ASCE is making their Hazard Tool available for free public access. With the availability of ASCE’s Hazard Tool, we feel there is no longer a unique need for the Medeek API, and we will be deferring to the ASCE for providing free wind, seismic and snow load information. This service will be retired on Mar. 1, 2025 and will become unavailable for use at that time, all new purchases and renewals will cease after Mar. 1, 2024.

The Medeek API

Introduction

Welcome to the developer documentation for the Medeek API. The Medeek API provides you a simple interface to query locations in the United States for geographic, seismic and climate data.

What Can You Do with the Medeek API

The Medeek API currently provides the following data for any location in the contiguous United States (lower 48), Alaska and Puerto Rico:

Ground snow load data is based on Figure 7-1 of the ASCE 7-10.
Seismic data is initially retreived from the USGS Seismic Design API and used to compute the appropriate Seismic Design Category.
ASCE Wind speeds are based on Figures 26.5-1A, 26.5-1B and 26.5-1C of the ASCE 7-10; Figures 26.5-1A, 26.5-1B, 26.5-1C, 26.5-1D of the ASCE 7-16; and Figure 6-1 of the ASCE 7-05. IRC 2012 wind speeds are calculated from the ASCE Risk Category II ultimate wind speed.

The API has also been recently updated and expanded to provide local snow load data for the following regions: Local ground snow load data is based on State, County and Municipal building codes and is often derived from snow load studies commissioned by the structural engineering associations within the state or jurisdiction. The specific source of the local snow load data is provided as part of the API output when the local data option is selected.

Given an exact location (Latitude, Longitude) the API can provide accurate ground snow load, wind load or seismic data as well as elevation information.

With the Medeek API, you can develop roofing, building, solar panel or other construction related applications that rely on accurate ground snow load, wind load or seismic data. Please feel free to download and test the following sample applications listed below:

You can access the Medeek API through an HTTP or HTTPS interface.

Audience

This document is intended for website and mobile developers who want to use ASCE ground snow load data, ASCE wind load data, IRC 2012 seismic data or IRC wind load data within their own web based or mobile applications. It provides an introduction to using the API and reference material on the available parameters.

Usage Limits

The Medeek API has the following limits in place:

These limits are enforced to prevent abuse and/or repurposing of the Medeek API, and may be changed in the future without notice. Additionally, we enforce a request rate limit to prevent abuse of the service. If you exceed the 24-hour limit or otherwise abuse the service, the API may stop working for you temporarily. If you continue to exceed this limit, your access to the Medeek API may be blocked.

If you need a higher usage limit please contact us in order to make special arrangements.

API Key

All Medeek API applications should use an API key ($500.00 per year). All keys are managed through the Medeek Account Manager. To create your key:

  1. Visit the Medeek Login page and log in with your Medeek Client Profile or Register a new profile.
  2. Click the Services from the left-hand menu in the Account Manager, then purchase the Medeek API service.
  3. Once the service has been activated, your API key is available from the Medeek API page, in the Services section.
To specify a key in your request, include it as the value of the key parameter.

For testing purposes please use the following key: MEDEEK12721119

Requests

A Medeek API URL must be of the following form:

http://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?parameters

Tip: You can also access the Medeek API using SSL, by substituting https for http in the request URL. HTTPS is recommended for applications that include sensitive user data, such as a user's location, in requests.

Output Formats

Outputs formats are specified using the optional output parameter in the request URL. The Medeek API currently supports the following output formats:

Parameter Usage

Requests to the Medeek API utilize different parameters based on whether the request is for ASCE or State ground snow loads.

As is standard in all URLs, parameters are separated using the ampersand (&) character. The list of parameters and their possible values are denoted below.

Responses

For each valid request, the Medeek API service will return a response in the format indicated by the ouput parameter. Each response will contain the following elements:

A status code, which may be one of the following:

When the status code is other than OK, there may be an additional error_message field within the response object. This field contains more detailed information about the reasons behind the given status code.

Note: This field is not guaranteed to be always present, and its content is subject to change.

An array of results containing the following applicable elements:

*Note: The seismic option requires two extra input parameters and has a number of additional results that are specific to seismic design, see IBC 2015 Seismic Example below.

Enabling the localdata lookup option for ASCE Ground Snow Load will produce the following three additional results:

*Note: If the localdata option is enabled, and no local snow data is available for that location, the applicable results will display "NO DATA".

ASCE Ground Snow Load Example

The following example requests the ASCE Ground Snow Load for Denver, Colorado, in plain text format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=ascesnow&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=39.7376&lng=-104.9847&elevation=1
ASCE Ground Snow Load: 20 psf Elevation: 5273.8 ft Key Expiration: 3/2016 Requests: 1265 Status: OK

ASCE7-16 Seismic Example

The following example requests the ASCE7-16 Seismic Design Category for St. Louis, Missouri, in plain text format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=seismic&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=38.6270&lng=-90.1994&siteclass=D&riskcat=II&edition=asce7-16&elevation=1
SDC: D SDS: 0.434 SD1: 0.244 SS: 0.453 S1: 0.160 SMS: 0.651 SM1: 0.365 FA: 1.438 FV: 2.279 TL: 12 RISKCAT: II - Other SITECLASS: Site Class D - Stiff Soil EDITION: asce7-16 Elevation: 462.4 ft Key Expiration: 05/2019 Requests: 96 Status: OK

IRC 2012 Wind Example

The following example requests the IRC 2012 Basic Wind Speed for St. Louis, Missouri, in plain text format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=irc2012wind&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=38.6270&lng=-90.1994&elevation=1
IRC 2012 Basic Wind Speed: 90 mph Elevation: 462.4 ft Key Expiration: 3/2016 Requests: 1478 Status: OK

ASCE 7-16 Wind Example

The following example requests the ASCE 7-16 Wind Speeds for Miami, Florida, in plain text format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=asce716wind&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=25.7890&lng=-80.2264&elevation=1
ASCE 7-16 Wind Speeds Risk Category I: 157 mph Risk Category II: 169 mph Risk Category III: 181 mph Risk Category IV: 188 mph Elevation: 4.0 ft Key Expiration: 05/2019 Requests: 445 Status: OK

ASCE 7-10 Wind Example (XML)

The following example requests the ASCE 7-10 Wind Speeds for Chicago, Illinois, in xml format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=asce710wind&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=41.8781&lng=-87.6298&output=xml&elevation=1
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <response> <status>OK</status> <result> <location> <lat>41.8781</lat> <lng>-87.6298</lng> </location> <windi>105 mph</windi> <windii>115 mph</windii> <windiii>120 mph</windiii> <elevation>594.8</elevation> <keyexp>3/2016</keyexp> <requests>1434</requests> </result> </response>

ASCE Ground Snow Load Example (JSON)

The following example requests the ASCE Ground Snow Load for Las Vegas, Nevada, in json format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=ascesnow&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=36.1379&lng=-115.2040&output=json&elevation=1
{ "results" : [ { "elevation" : 2200.5, "location" : { "lat" : 36.1379, "lng" : -115.2040 }, "pg" : "(6000 ft.) 15 psf,(4500 ft.) 10 psf,(3600 ft.) 5 psf,(2000 ft.) 0 psf", "keyexp" : "3/2016", "requests" : "1427" } ], "status" : "OK" }

ASCE 7-05 Wind Example (XML)

The following example requests the ASCE 7-05 Wind Speeds for Chicago, Illinois, in xml format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=asce705wind&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=41.8781&lng=-87.6298&output=xml&elevation=1
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <response> <status>OK</status> <result> <location> <lat>41.8781</lat> <lng>-87.6298</lng> </location> <wind05>90 mph</wind05> <elevation>594.8</elevation> <keyexp>5/2021</keyexp> <requests>1323</requests> </result> </response>

IBC 2015 Seismic Example

The following example requests the IBC 2015 Seismic Design Category for Provo, Utah, in plain text format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=seismic&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=40.2338&lng=-111.6585&siteclass=D&riskcat=II&edition=ibc-2015&elevation=1
SDC: D SDS: 0.824 SD1: 0.463 SS: 1.222 S1: 0.447 SMS: 1.236 SM1: 0.694 FA: 1.011 FV: 1.553 TL: 8 RISKCAT: II - Other SITECLASS: Site Class D - "Stiff Soil" EDITION: ibc-2015 Elevation: 4549.2 ft Key Expiration: 05/2021 Requests: 448 Status: OK

ASCE Ground Snow Load Example (with local data)

The following example requests the ASCE and Local Ground Snow Load for Truckee, California, in plain text format:

https://design.medeek.com/resources/medeekapi.pl?action=ascesnow&key=MEDEEK12721119&lat=39.3529&lng=-120.1265&localdata=1&elevation=1
ASCE Ground Snow Load: Site-specific case study (CS) required to establish ground snow load at this location. Local Snow Load: 190.0 psf Source: Town of Truckee Municipal Code: Title 15 Table 1608.4 Geolocation: Truckee,Nevada,CA Elevation: 5700.3 ft Key Expiration: 05/2016 Requests: 419 Status: OK

If you have any questions or concerns about the API service please call us at 1-425-652-4188.

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