How to determine Design Load bearing, wind, and seismic

[Zarathustra]

Greetings! My gf and I bought land in Hand we are allowed to draw up our own plans without an architects approval given the size of the building. I am using plans I found online with slight modifications but don't know how to determine these criteria they ask for:

Live flood load
Live Roof load
Basic Wind speed
Effective wind speed
Wind exposure category
Seismic design category

 

[cda]

Seek professional help, if you want your house to last.

You will actually save money, by spending it in the right places

You cannot post pictures until you are a paid forum supporter

You can post a link

 

[steveray]

If I see it correctly, you would be looking for the Virginia Building Code and I do believe it is readily available online. One of our Va folks may chime in with a link, but as CDA says, a good designer may be able to save you some money and/or headache.

 

[MtnArch]

Looking at the linked image it says it's from the County of Hawai'i which I'm assuming is on one of the Hawaiian islands. It really would be best to contact a design professional from where you are looking to build to help you out. I think you'll find most of the plans you find online will only provide partial plans at best, and most need to be heavily modified to fit the locale that you'll be in. Most folks I've heard of that tried submitting what they bought online were politely turned away at the building department counter with a suggestion to contact someone local to provide the missing information.

 

[mark handler]

Contact the Local Building Department for the following: (It varies)
Basic Wind speed
Effective wind speed
Wind exposure category
Seismic design category

Live floor loads and Live Roof loads are found in the code books

If you do not Know these things, contact a design professional

 

[tmurray]

The online plans I receive generally are not acceptable as construction drawings. Particularly when I receive plans drawn using the IRC. Usually takes about 2 hours to do a residential review...Online plans can take two days to a week to review. You probably won't pay much more to have someone re-draw the online plans you've found and they can make little changes for you to make the house yours.

 

[mark handler]

contact a design professional
For a roof typical Live Load = 20 psf; may be different depending on roof slope. plus snow and dead loads when applicable
For a floor a typical Live Load = 40 psf for residential occupancies. plus dead and concentrated loads when applicable

 

[advshopfront]

Much needed info thanks for sharing with us..

 

[ADAguy]

Wind and rain are much heavier on the "islands" then on the Mainland, as are seismic.

Closest comparison might be Miami.

Kimo