• Welcome to the new and improved Building Code Forum. We appreciate you being here and hope that you are getting the information that you need concerning all codes of the building trades. This is a free forum to the public due to the generosity of the Sawhorses, Corporate Supporters and Supporters who have upgraded their accounts. If you would like to have improved access to the forum please upgrade to Sawhorse by first logging in then clicking here: Upgrades

Losing the "exterior" sheathing argument

Agree will all aforementioned and would applaud reasonable solutions to problems, especially with all parties on board.

But it is a new day.

Solving problems is no longer the issue. CYA is. And architects have so much language in their contracts absolving them of responsibility that they are covered by a 10' thick lead blanket.

Even failure of a sketchy design will inevitably fall on the builders shoulders.

Brent.
 
the building department should have the design reviewed by a licensed engineer as part of the plan review process.
It is a fine line between a "peer" review by an AHJ's engineer and the AHJ's engineer telling the design engineer it won't work, submit a new design

Ultimately whatever was "approved has to be followed in the installation and if an inspector cannot allow enough time to follow the installation then a third party should be required on site for continual inspection to verify the installation was done according to the design.
 
The AHJ's engineer does not provide a peer review rather he checks for compliance with the code. A peer review generally deals with issues that may be of concern to the Owner but are not within the scope of the building code.
 
If it is a prescriptive design then the Code path must be clear.

If it is not prescriptive then the DPR must provide the relevant documentation.
 
~ & ~ & ~



Joe Engel,

Simpson-Strongtie DOES have area representatives to assist in Shear & Seismic

designs, ...on Commercial & Residential applications.

If you want, I have contacts that service your area.......Of course they will

charge you for a review of your project, and they will want to sell you their

products.............As an option, they DO have PE's and others on their staff.

You could certainly discuss your project with the Area Rep for FREE !

Just sayin'...



~ & ~ & ~
 
Update: Sealed/Signed letter hand delivered today. PE has reviewed the plan and is now calling for 4 inch spacing on drywall nails instead of 8, Simpson RSP4's 4 foot O/C for seismic, and a special inspection to verify nail pattern on drywall before finisher can begin. Super says it will increase the cost about $1000 on a $1.35 million job. This is way more than I expected, I guess I owe the PE a Christmas card.

Thanks to all for comments and suggestions... Support the BCF, where else can you get 20+ GOOD opinions in 4 days!!!
 
Gotta love it when it all comes together in harmony... Good call by the AHJ and a proper response by the DPR.
 
Vindication! Seems to have worked out well for everyone. BTW, we do drywall inspections only when used for shear, usually limited to a few locations or if rated assembly. Otherwise we assume they have fastened it prescriptively.
 
Top