2 nd International Balkans Conference on Challenges of Civil Engineering, BCCCE, 23-25 May 2013, EPOKA University, Tirana, ALBANIA. 705 Determination of Fundamental Properties of Masonry for different cities of Albania Ornela Lalaj 1 , Yavuz Yardim 1 1 Department of Civil Engineering, EPOKA University, Albania ABSTRACT This study deals with the properties of unreinforced masonry. Masonry is a two phase material, and the properties of the assemblage depend on that of bricks and mortars. On the other hand, the quality of bricks mostly depends on the type of raw material and the production process. The quality of mortars is more complicated to assess since it depends on its mix design, which is highly variable from batch to batch. The procedure of assessment of properties for bricks and prisms is well established in various standards while the compressive strength of existing mortars has always been a challenge. In Albania there are a considerable number of URM structures and therefore assessing the properties of masonry is an important task. Therefore, samples from Tirana, Vlora, Elbasan, Rreshen and Bulqiza are obtained and tested, mainly in compression to assess the compressive strength of bricks and mortars. Large and highly populated cities are targeted. The expected outcome of this experimental program is the set of mechanical properties of unreinforced masonry for the selected cities, confronted with the design values provided by production factories and theoretical values. INTRODUCTION Masonry is a two phase material, being composed of bricks (or any other type of units) and mortars. Depending on the type of unit it can be classified as stone masonry, adobe masonry, concrete masonry and clay/silicate brick masonry. The units are responsible for the main load carrying capacity of masonry, while mortars are responsible for the cohesion. Stone and adobe masonry are characteristic of old masonry structures and the structure of the walls is often irregular. In Albania there are a considerable number of masonry buildings with clay or silicate bricks mainly build between 1900 and 1990. The bricks used for construction has been produced by factories with two lines of production M7.5 and M10, i.e. the compressive strength of bricks was 7.5 and 10 MPa [1]. The standard dimension of such bricks is 250×120×65 mm. The mortar is in-situ casted and its properties greatly vary on the mix proportions used for each mix therefore it is difficult to standardise. It is of importance to gain an insight on the characteristic properties of brick masonry in Albania. There is no existing database for existing masonry properties in Albania. For this purpose, samples of bricks and mortars have been obtained from existing structures. The locations from which brick specimens have been obtained are Tirana, Vlora, Rreshen, Bulqiza,