BUILDING LOADS

A building code has the force of law and is

administered by a government entity such as a
city, a county, or, for some large metropolitan
areas, a consolidated government.
Building codes do not give design
procedures, but they do specify the design
requirements and constraints that must be
satisfied.
i.e. For structural engineer the prescription
of minimum live loads for buildings.

Three National Code Organizations

DESIGN PROCESS
Design is the determination of the
general shape and all specific
dimensions of a particular structure
so that it will perform the function
for which it was created.
So , good design must be safe and
economic.

Uniform Building Code (west of Mississippi)

Standard Building Code (southeastern states)
BOCA National Building Code (northeastern country)
where BOCA stands for Building Officials and Code
Administrators)
Member
Dimension

Loads

Unified building code- International Building Code

Design

Strength

Reinforcement
Ratio

Building Codes
Buildings must be designed and
constructed according to the provisions of a
building code, which is a legal documents
containing as requirements related to such
things as structural safety, fire safety, plumbing,
ventilation, and accessibility to the physically
disabled.

Design Specifications
Gives more specific guidance for the design of
structural members and their connections.
They are periodically revised and updated by the
issuance of supplements or completely new
editions.
For steel;
1. American Institute of Steel Construction
(AISC)- design of steel buildings and their
connections.

2. American association of State Highway and

Transportation officials (AASHTO) covers the
design of highway and bridges related
structures. It provides for all structural
materials normally used in bridges, including
steel, reinforced concrete, and timber.
3. American Railway Engineering and
Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA)covers the design of railway bridges and
related structures.
4. American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)- deals
with cold-formed steel.

TYPES OF LOADS
Loads are classified as static and dynamic . Static loads are independent from
time but dynamic loads are function of time.
Dead and live
loads are types of
static loads.
Dead loads are
those have
unchangeable
locations in
structure and their
values are certain
and constant .
Live loads are those
movable and their
values are uncertain.

Dead loads are calculated easily using structure dimensions and material density .

Live loads are movable and their values are uncertain , so they can not be
calculated directly and local or international specifications shall be consulted.

Types of Loads
Determination of loads for which a given
structure may be designed for is a difficult
problem.

International Building Code IBC 2009 published live load values dependent on
types of building occupancy.

Questions to be Answered:
What loads may structure be called upon
during its lifetime?
In what combinations these loads occur?
The probability that a specific live load be
exceeded at some time during lifetime of
structure?

80 psf
100 psf

50 psf

Dynamic loads
The other group of loads is the dynamic loads , and the following are types of such loads:
SCOPE OF THE LECTURE

Types of loads.
Static and dynamic loads.
Blast load

Wind load

Impact load

Seismic load

Flood load

Types of Loads
Load Example: Live Load in Ballroom

1. Dead load
Dead Loads consist of the weight of all
materials and fixed equipment incorporated
into the building or other structure.

Ballroom

Live Load = 100 lb/ft^2

Weight of structure
Weight of permanent machinery etc.
Dead loads can be reasonably estimated if the
member dimensions and material densities are
known.

13

Types of Loads

Types of Loads

2. Live load:

2. Live load:
Live loads are those loads produced by the use
and occupancy of the building or other structure
and do not include dead load, construction load,
or environmental loads.
Weight of people, furniture, machinery, goods
in building.
Weight of traffic on bridge

The 40psf L.L specified by code for Residential Buildings is too

Conservative to account for the uncertainties in structural actions
Such as impact, fatigue, temp. effects etc.
17

14

Types of loads
Types of Loads..

3. Environmental Loads
Environmental loads include wind load,
snow load, rain load, earthquake load, and
flood load.

2. Live load: (UBC Table 16-A)

Live loads for various occupancies
Occupancy
Live load,psf
Residential
40
Libraries(reading room)
60
Mercantile
75-125
Heavy manufacturing
125-150
Light storage
120-125
Heavy storage
250 minimum
CE-409: Lecture 03

Prof. Dr. Akhtar Naeem Khan

18

15

SEISMIC LOADS
Seismic loads on buildings are caused by movement in foundations . The acceleration of this
movement is very rapid and its value
is highly increased with height.

Seismic load is applied as horizontal shear at the building base. The shear force is
proportional to the building weight (W) and calculated from :
V = Cs . W
Cs is the seismic response coefficient which is found from :
Cs = SDS / ( R/I)
R is the response modification factor , which is dependent on the type of structure and
can be found from the table below.
I is the importance factor ,which is dependent on the occupancy category and is taken
1.25 for building designed for more than 300 person and 1.0 for ordinary building.

Earthquake Loads
Structure loaded when base is shaken
Response of structure is dependent on the
frequency of motion
When frequencies match with natural
frequency of structure - resonance

Load Example: Earthquake Load

Earthquake Load

Earthquake Load

Base Motion