Types

• Cast-in-Place Concrete Beams and Columns
  Reinforced concrete beams, girders, and columns formed and poured on site, used as the structural frame of concrete buildings and parking structures.
• Glulam Beams
  Structural glued-laminated timber beams, columns, and arches of bonded lumber laminations, used for long-span and exposed wood framing.
• Guards and Railings
  Guards and handrails at stairs, ramps, balconies, and level changes, built as post-and-rail, baluster, cable, or glass systems.
• LVL and PSL
  Structural composite lumber of bonded veneers (LVL) or veneer strands (PSL), used for headers, beams, columns, and long-span framing in wood buildings.
• Open-Web Steel Joists
  Lightweight shop-fabricated steel trusses (K, LH, DLH series) and joist girders, used for roof and floor framing over long spans.
• Precast Concrete
  Plant-cast structural concrete members, including hollow-core plank, double tees, beams, columns, and wall panels, used for fast, durable framing.
• Spread and Continuous Footings
  Shallow reinforced concrete foundations, isolated pads under columns and continuous strips under walls, used where soils near the surface can carry building loads.
• Steel Columns and HSS
  Wide-flange and hollow structural section (HSS) steel columns and posts, used to carry gravity and lateral loads in steel-framed buildings.
• Timber Bridges
  Vehicular and pedestrian bridges framed in glued-laminated, sawn, or stress-laminated timber, designed to the AASHTO LRFD specifications.
• Wide-Flange Steel Beams
  Hot-rolled W-shape steel beams and girders, used as primary floor and roof framing in commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings.
• Wood I-Joists
  Engineered I-shaped joists with LVL or lumber flanges and OSB webs, used for long, straight floor and roof framing in wood buildings.
• Wood Trusses
  Shop-fabricated metal-plate-connected wood trusses for roofs and floors, used to span between bearing walls in residential and light commercial buildings.

Code reference

Always verify the adopted code edition and local amendments for the project jurisdiction.

Governing editions

Fire resistance by construction type

• IBC 2024, Table 601: required fire-resistance ratings (hours) for primary structural frame / floor construction / roof construction: Type IA 3/2/1-1/2; IB 2/2/1; IIA 1/1/1; IIB 0/0/0; IIIA 1/1/1; IIIB 0/0/0; IV-A 3/2/1-1/2; IV-B 2/2/1; IV-C 2/2/1; IV-HT heavy timber; VA 1/1/1; VB 0/0/0 (all types)
• IBC 2024, Table 601 footnotes: primary frame rating may be reduced by 1 hour where it supports a roof only; roof members exempt where every part is 20 ft or more above the floor below, except in Groups F-1, H, M, and S-1; heavy timber permitted where 1 hour or less is required (glulam beams, wood trusses)
• IBC 2024, Table 2304.11: heavy timber minimums: columns 8x8 supporting floors and 6x8 supporting roofs only; floor beams and girders 6x10; roof framing 4x6; glulam and structural composite lumber equivalents listed (glulam beams, LVL and PSL)

Loads and deflection

• IBC 2024, Table 1607.1: uniform live loads, including offices 50 psf; corridors above the first floor 80 psf; lobbies and first-floor corridors 100 psf; assembly with fixed seats 60 psf; assembly lobbies and movable seats 100 psf; residential 40 psf; ordinary roofs 20 psf; light storage 125 psf; heavy storage 250 psf (all types)
• IBC 2024, Section 1607.5: partition load of 15 psf where partitions can be relocated in offices (all floor framing)
• IBC 2024, Table 1604.3: deflection limits: floor members L/360 live and L/240 dead plus live; roof members supporting plaster L/360 and L/240, supporting nonplaster ceilings L/240 and L/180, with no ceiling L/180 and L/120 (beams, joists, trusses, I-joists)

Steel

• IBC 2024, Section 2202.1: structural steel designed per AISC 360 (wide-flange steel beams, steel columns and HSS)
• IBC 2024, Section 2202.2: seismic design per AISC 341 where required (wide-flange steel beams, steel columns and HSS)
• IBC 2024, Section 2207: steel joists per SJI 100 and SJI 200, with construction document requirements and manufacturer certification (open-web steel joists)

Wood

• IBC 2024, Sections 2303.1.2, 2303.1.3, and 2303.1.10: I-joists per ASTM D5055; glulam per ANSI/APA A190.1 and ASTM D3737; structural composite lumber per ASTM D5456 (wood I-joists, glulam beams, LVL and PSL)
• IBC 2024, Section 2303.4: truss design drawings, permanent individual truss member restraint and diagonal bracing, trusses spanning 60 ft or more require a registered design professional for bracing design, and design per TPI 1 (wood trusses)
• IBC 2024, Section 2304.12: protection against decay, including wood framing closer than 8 in. to earth and floor joists within 18 in. of grade in crawlspaces (all wood members)
• IBC 2024, Sections 2306 and 2307: allowable stress and load and resistance factor design per AWC NDS (all wood members)
• IBC 2024, Section 2308.2: conventional light-frame limits, including stories by seismic design category, 11 ft 7 in. floor-to-floor height, 10 ft studs, 40 psf floor live load, 50 psf ground snow load, and 130 mph wind speed (wood I-joists, wood trusses)
• AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications: timber bridges are designed to AASHTO, not the building code; tabulated values assume dry use and are modified for wet use (timber bridges)

Concrete and foundations

• IBC 2024, Chapter 19 and ACI 318-19: structural concrete design and construction (cast-in-place concrete beams and columns, precast concrete)
• IBC 2024, Table 1808.8.1: minimum footing concrete strength 2,500 psi in Seismic Design Categories A to C; 3,000 psi in D to F, with a 2,500 psi allowance for light-frame Group R and U of two stories or less (spread and continuous footings)
• IBC 2024, Section 1809.2: footings bear on undisturbed soil, compacted fill, or CLSM (spread and continuous footings)
• IBC 2024, Section 1809.3: footing bottoms may slope up to 10 percent; steeper sites require stepped footings (spread and continuous footings)
• IBC 2024, Section 1809.5: frost protection by footing below the frost line, frost-protected shallow foundations per ASCE 32, or bearing on solid rock (spread and continuous footings)
• IBC 2024, Table 1809.7: prescriptive footings for light-frame construction: width 12, 15, and 18 in. and thickness 6, 6, and 8 in. for 1, 2, and 3 floors (spread and continuous footings)
• IBC 2024, Section 1809.13: footing seismic ties in Seismic Design Categories D to F on Site Class E or F (spread and continuous footings)

Guards

• IBC 2024, Section 2407.1: glass in guards is laminated fully tempered or heat-strengthened glass, Category II or ANSI Z97.1 Class A, at least 1/4 in. thick; loads per Section 1607.9 with design strengths of 3,000 psi for heat-strengthened and 6,000 psi for fully tempered glass (guards and railings)
• IBC 2024, Section 2407.1.2: structural glass balusters without a top rail tested to ASTM E2353 (guards and railings)

Special inspections

• IBC 2024, Section 1705.2: steel construction (wide-flange steel beams, steel columns and HSS, open-web steel joists)
• IBC 2024, Section 1705.3: concrete construction (cast-in-place concrete beams and columns, precast concrete, spread and continuous footings)
• IBC 2024, Section 1705.5: wood construction, including metal-plate-connected trusses spanning 60 ft or more under 1705.5.2 (wood trusses, glulam beams)

Referenced standards

Sources

• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 6 types of construction (Department of Defense adoption), https://up.codes/viewer/department-of-defense/ibc-2024/chapter/6/types-of-construction
• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 16 structural design, https://up.codes/viewer/department-of-defense/ibc-2024/chapter/16/structural-design
• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 17 special inspections and tests, https://up.codes/viewer/department-of-defense/ibc-2024/chapter/17/special-inspections-and-tests
• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 18 soils and foundations, https://up.codes/viewer/department-of-defense/ibc-2024/chapter/18/soils-and-foundations
• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 22 steel, Chapter 22 Steel: Department of Defense Building Code 2024 | UpCodes
• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 23 wood, https://up.codes/viewer/department-of-defense/ibc-2024/chapter/23/wood
• UpCodes: 2024 IBC Chapter 24 glass and glazing (Department of Defense adoption), https://up.codes/viewer/department-of-defense/ibc-2024/chapter/24/glass-and-glazing