Guidelines regarding housing typologies in Guatemala, with a special focus on confined masonry buildings with concrete blocks, tie-columns and beams. The February 1976 earthquake caused severe damage to housing and buildings in Guatemala. Because many adobe houses were destroyed during the earthquake, there was greater interest in building with reinforced concrete block masonry structures after the event. This building type can now be found throughout Guatemala. Reinforced concrete block masonry structures are primarily used for family housing, both in cities and in rural Guatemala. The main loadbearing elements are masonry walls with concrete block walls reinforced with vertical and horizontal reinforced concrete elements in addition to internal steel reinforcement bars placed in the hollow cores of the concrete blocks.