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Habitable Attic/Story framing issue

I

icebox14

SAWHORSE
Joined
Jul 30, 2025
Messages
11
Location
Church Hill, TN
Went by to do a framing inspection on a townhome. The 20+ foot studs in the gable/exterior wall are made of 2x4’s. My buddy that normally does commercial inspections with me says it’s fine bc it’s a habitable attic and not a load bearing wall. I disagree. It is definitely considered a story. It has a stairwell, hallway, bathroom and bedroom upstairs. Different ceiling, not enclosed by the roof. And ch. 6 is very explicit on how high a 2x4 can go spaced 16 oc.

Here’s the problem, we work for a very small municipality. The builder is in local politics. And goes straight to the top anytime we disapprove him. Any advice? Could this really be considered a habitable attic instead of its own story, if so, how? Or if there is an easy fix besides reframing this whole thing so it’ll soften the blow when I have to explain this to him tomorrow, I am all ears.

Also, these are supposed to be spec homes. He’s done at least 20 of them so far, this is my first set dealing with them. I believe this is the first one with any habitable space in the attic, but surely this wouldn’t be ok even if it is just the gable wall in the attic, right? He only has space for 4 more townhomes so I want to make sure I’m interpreting the IRC correctly. I am still new at this and learning, I started with commercial buildings and switching over to residential where there are no blueprints has been a time for sure. We are in the south. Thank you!
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Is the floor in the photo the second floor? I'm certainly not seeing any attic -- yet. The attic will be the space above the ceiling and below the roof, and I don't see that as even potentially habitable.

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However, whether or not it's a habitable attic has nothing to do with the allowable stud height:

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The picture I posted is what I consider the second floor, my co worker is telling me that it is a habitable attic and the 2x4’s are fine being over 12 ft bc it’s not a load bearing wall. I do not think it’s fine and am seeking more guidance
 
More pics of the left side of the space, the finished area is on the right which I do not have good pics of. But the finished area has a different ceiling. So not enclosed with the roof. Thank you for replying, I have been going insane all night trying to understand why I am being told I am wrong. Not that I care to be wrong, but I at least want to understand why. And the his response was not making sense to me.
 

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icebox14 said:
More pics of the left side of the space, the finished area is on the right which I do not have good pics of. But the finished area has a different ceiling. So not enclosed with the roof. Thank you for replying, I have been going insane all night trying to understand why I am being told I am wrong. Not that I care to be wrong, but I at least want to understand why. And the his response was not making sense to me.
Yankee Chronicler said:
How is that an attic?
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I don’t know, but I can’t really argue with the senior inspector. To me it is a story.
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icebox14 said:
More pics of the left side of the space, the finished area is on the right which I do not have good pics of. But the finished area has a different ceiling. So not enclosed with the roof. Thank you for replying, I have been going insane all night trying to understand why I am being told I am wrong. Not that I care to be wrong, but I at least want to understand why. And the his response was not making sense to me.
Yankee Chronicler said:
How is that an attic?
Click to expand...
I don’t know, but I can’t really argue with the senior inspector. To me it is the second story. But at the end of the day that doesn’t matter, what matters is that a 2x4 should not be a 12+ foot stud, at any point on an exterior wall. When I show him the tables or proof he tells me it doesn’t matter bc it’s a gable wall that’s not load bearing. I guess I’m just trying to figure out if there’s any truth to what he is saying because if I’m wrong I want to know where to look to find the answer. He isn’t telling me and I can’t find it and I’ve been researching it since I got home this evening.
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I would need to see a building section drawing to determine whether that's a second story or an attic. Ultimately, it doesn't matter -- section R602.3 doesn't care.
 
Yankee Chronicler said:
I would need to see a building section drawing to determine whether that's a second story or an attic. Ultimately, it doesn't matter -- section R602.3 doesn't care.
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That is what I was thinking.....It is more about unbraced stud height than story/ not a story....And BTW...It looks like those rafter ties are elevated, so I am guessing that cannot be a "floor" so it is not going to be a habitable attic....And arguably not even proper roof framing....
 
Met with the GC this morning, no plans at all. He chuckled when I asked. I told him he needed an engineer to figure all of this out, that this is outside of my scope. He said they didn’t want to pay for an engineer. I am sure he will call someone above me that doesn’t even work in the building dept and get it approved. I feel bad for the buyers, these down homes are selling for 450k +
 
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