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Brick dimensions is one of the most crucial parameters that need to be considered during the selection of bricks in order to ensure they fit with the design layout. Brick selection is decided based on the certain application in which the brick is used. Due to the fact that bricks are used in various constructions, different brick sizes are needed.
There are many standards each of which established by a country that provide standard sizes for bricks for example ASTM (American Standard for Testing Materials), BS (British Standard), CSA (Canadian Standards Association), and IS (Indian Standard).
Good quality bricks shall have uniform size. The size of the conventional bricks shall be 225 x 110 x 75 mm. Only bricks of one standard size shall be used in one work unless specially permitted by the Client / Consultant.
Tolerances are permitted in the standard conventional size adopted on the particular work for instance length plus or minus 3.0 mm, breadth plus or minus 1.5 mm, depth plus or minus 1.5 mm.
Brick is a commonly used building material which is manufactured from burnt clay. It is mostly consisted of clay, sand, lime and bearing soil or other concrete materials.
Contents:
1. Bricks Sizes as per ASTM International
Good quality bricks shall have uniform size. The size of the conventional bricks dimension used in the United States is 203 Ă— 92 Ă— 57 mm. The more commonly used is the modular brick, which dimension is 194 Ă— 92 Ă— 57 mm (length x depth x height).
However, the ASTM international Standards such as ASTM C62 (Standard Specification for Building Brick (Solid Masonry Units Made From Clay or Shale), ASTM C216 (Standard Specification for Facing Brick (Solid Masonry Units Made from Clay or Shale), ASTM C652 (Standard Specification for Hollow Brick (Hollow Masonry Units Made From Clay or Shale), and ASTM C1088 (Standard Specification for Thin Veneer Brick Units Made From Clay or Shale) have all emphasized that the size of bricks shall be specified by the purchaser.
Nonetheless, tolerable variations in the specified brick sizes are set by ASTM International Standards. The following tolerances are permitted in the standard conventional size adopted on the particular work.
- Length plus or minus 3.0 mm
- Breadth plus or minus 1.5 mm
- Depth plus or minus 1.5 mm
The maximum permissible variation in dimensions of individual units shall not exceed those given in Table 1. and Table 2 provides different size variations for hollow bricks.
Table 1: Variations of dimensions of solid bricks
| Specified dimension, mm | Maximum Permissible Variations from Specified Dimension, plus or minus, mm |
| Up to 76, inclusive | 2.4 |
| Over 76 to 102, inclusive | 3.2 |
| Over 102 to 152, inclusive | 4.8 |
| Over 152 to 203, inclusive | 6.4 |
| Over 203 to 305, inclusive | 7.9 |
| Over 305 to 406, inclusive | 9.5 |
Table 2:Â Hollow Brick Minimum Thickness of Face Shells and Webs
| Nominal Width of Units, mm | Face Shell Thicknesses, mm | Face Shell Thicknesses, mm | End Shells or End Webs |
| - | Solid | Cored or Double Shell | |
| 76 and 101 | 19.05 | — | 19.05 |
| 152 | 25.4 | 38 | 25.4 |
| 203 | 32 | 38 | 25.4 |
| 254 | 35 | 41 | 29.5 |
| 306 | 38 | 50 | 29.5 |
2. Bricks Sizes as per Canadian Standard Associations
Similar to ASTM international, Canadian Standard Association CSA A82, does not stipulate specific brick sizes. However, it has established permissible variations in brick size which should not be violated as provided in Table 3.
Commonly, manufacturing process and variations in raw materials due to shrinkage of the clay during drying and firing, wear of the mold or extrusion die, or undue stress on the units during handling prior to firing are the root cause of changes in standard brick size.
Permitted size variation is based on the brick classification and the relative dimensional range measured. The variation is plus or minus from the specified dimension.
Size variation becomes important when vertical alignment of brick (stack bond) is used, when bands of brick from different production runs are combined, or when a short horizontal extent of brickwork is constructed, such as between closely spaced window openings.
Table 3: Variations of dimensions of solid bricks
| Specified dimension, mm | Maximum Permissible Variations from Specified Dimension, plus or minus, mm |
| Up to 76, inclusive | 2.4 |
| Over 76 to 102, inclusive | 3.2 |
| Over 102 to 152, inclusive | 4.8 |
| Over 152 to 203, inclusive | 6.4 |
| Over 203 to 305, inclusive | 7.9 |
| Over 305 to 406, inclusive | 9.5 |
3. Bricks Sizes as per Indian Standard (IS 1077)
Brick sizes based on IS 1077 specification (Common burnt clay building bricks), the standard modular size of common building brick is 190 x 90 x 90 mm or 190 x 90 x 40 mm (length x depth x height).
The size of non-modular brick size is 230 x 110 x 70 mm or 230 x 110 x 30 (length x depth x height). Additionally, for obtaining proper bond arrangement and modular dimensions for the brick work, with the non-modular sizes, the sizes of bricks may be 70 x 110 x 70 mm (length x depth x height).
4. British Standard
The standard dimension of a modern brick is 215 Ă— 102.5 Ă— 65 in mm (length x depth x height) dimension.
5. Australian Standard
The standard brick size based on Australian Standard AS 4455 is 230 x 110 x 76 mm (length x width x height). However, some bricks have work sizes such as 290 x 90 x 90 mm and 290 x 90 x 50 mm.
