California Shear Wall 1

[jcox]

Does anyone know if California is accepting the IBC values for shear wall design. I would like to use a light gage steel diaphragm over steel studs. I know that the 2001 CBC has values for plywood, I was just wondering if they accepted more current design values.

 

[cclin]

No in general. Some cities might accept that. You should check with the local jurisdiction for that.

 

[cap4000]

I think, UBC is the Code in California.

 

[jcox]

The code for CA is the 1997 UBC, but california has made some changes, repackaged and resold the code as the 2001 CBC. Some municipalities in California don't care if you list the 1997 UBC as the code you designed by. I have received plan checks where the only comment was that I designed to the wrong code. The only change I had to make was that the package is now done per 2001 CBC, not the 1997 UBC. It's like Wisconin, New York, and North Carolina (off the top of my head). They've all adopted the IBC for the entire state, but they've repackaged it with a different title page and made it the "Your States Name Here" Building code. I own several copies of essentially the same code with different title pages. Most the changes I've found are administrative or very sublte in the text. The whole thing could probably have been handled with a fifteen page addendum (ie Georgia has a free pdf download) instead of another $80 book. But then the states wouldn't be able to generate any revenue.

I realize that this is the wrong place to rant, this was going to be a two line response, but...well it just got me going.

 

[cap4000]

I live in New Jersey where IBC 2000 was adopted last May.
The prior the 30 years I used BOCA, a pretty user friendly
manual. The best bang for your buck should be using the LRFD Method if this is allowed. The IBC website has many publications that just try to explain itself. BIG$$$ for everyone involved. Good Luck.

 

[damstructural]

jcox, you might check your light gauge steel diaphragm manufacturer for a code adoption reference for your area.

As for California building codes, nothing has changed much since UBC97. You should be aware that our Building Standards Commission has chosen to switch to the NFPA model code for California, despite overwhelming opposition from every major design organization (expect plumbers, electricians and fire chiefs). Its a real scandal. We'd be the only jurisdiction in the country to adopt this 1st-version model building code. Actually I believe the city of Pasadena, Texas has adopted it.

This isn't over yet. The BSC is under pressure (and hopefully investigation for conflict of interest) to do the right thing and adopt the IBC. The date keeps slipping, now its scheduled for 2007.