A Beginner's Guide to ASCE 7-05

Chapter 3 - D: Dead Loads

2007, T. Bartlett Quimby

Overview
Typical Unit
Area Dead Load
Calcuations
Homework
Problems
References

Report Errors or
Make
Suggestions

Section 3.1

Overview
Last Revised: 11/04/2014

ASCE 7-05 3.1.1 defines dead load as consisting "... of the

weight of all materials of construction incorporated into the
building...". This is generally considered to mean that anything
that is a fixed part of the structure is a dead load. To be
considered dead load, an item must be physically attached to
the structure.
One test that generally works is that if it can be moved without
cutting it loose or detaching it from the structure then it is not a
dead load.
Items that can be considered to be dead load include
construction materials that make up the building (beams,
columns, floor systems, ceiling systems, wall systems, doors,
windows, floor coverings, wall coverings, cabinets, and the like)
and permanently attached equipment such as heating and
ventilating systems, electrical trays, piping, etc.
Items that are not considered to be dead load include such
things as movable shelving, desks, chairs, beds, chests, books,
copiers, stored items, or anything else that can or may be
moved around during the life of the structure.
One feature of dead loads is that they are the weights of the
final structure. This creates a bit of a dilemma for the design
engineer. The engineer must know the weights of the
structure in order to design it, but the engineer also needs the
final structure to accurately define the weights! At the
beginning of the design process, the framing and other
structural elements are all unknown, however the weight is
needed to determine the internal forces for the members being
designed. The solution to this dilemma often involves a few
iterations where an educated guess is made as to where the
design will end up, compute the dead loads based on this
estimate, select members based on the estimated loads,

recompute the dead loads, then continue the cycle until

member sizes don't change.
Expression of Dead Load in Structural Calculations
There are several convenient ways to express the intensity of
dead loads.
Floors, Roofs, and Walls
Most floor, roof, and wall systems have fairly uniform density
and their weights can be expressed in terms of weight per unit
area. With dead loads expressed in this manner, tributary area
concepts can be used to determine the forces exerted on the
supporting members.
To compute the average unit weight (i.e. weight per unit area)
such a system, the weights of all items in system are expressed
in terms of their weight per square foot of surface area even if
they are located as particular locations. Generally, this method
works if all items in the system they are either spread over the
surface of the area (like carpet on a floor system... every unit
area has it) or uniformly spaced over the entire area (like floor
joists that support the floor deck and a ceiling below).
Items that are not spread over the surface and not uniformly
spaced over the entire area are generally not included in the
unit weight calculation but are treated as individual loads in
addition to the unit load.
Miscellaneous Load
The exceptions to this are minor electrical and mechanical
items such as wiring and plumbing whose exact location is
unknown during design, as well as added density at the
connections to supporting structures. To account for these
items an additional "miscellaneous" load may be applied. The
magnitude of the miscellaneous load generally varies
depending on what you expect the extent of these items to
be. For typical cases, values between 1 and 2 psf are typical.
Slope Correction
Unit dead loads for roof areas that are sloped are commonly
expressed in terms of weight per unit area of horizontal
projection. This is done because most load computations are
done in terms of plan view unit areas. The use of weight per
unit horizontal projected area requires a slope adjustment as

the weight of a sloped surface expressed in terms of weight per

unit area of horizontal projection is larger than the weight per
unit area along the surface.
If the roof slope is 4:12 or less then the adjustment is less than
4% and not considered to be significant. Consequently the
slope adjustment is commonly done only for slopes greater
than 4:12. You will see this calculation in section 3.2.
Partition Loads
ASCE 7-05 section 4.2.2 classifies partition load as a live load,
with no apparent explanation in the commentary. The seismic
requirements (ASCE 7-05 12.7.2) do explicitly require that the
partition load be include in the effective seismic weight of the
building.
Reroofing Allowance
Certain types of roofing systems allow for a new roof to be
placed over the old when it is time to replace the roofing. This
is the case with asphalt shingles. When determining the
weights to be used for roofing, many engineers include a
reroofing allowance for the added weight of the second layer of
roofing material. If in doubt, consult with the architect on the
likelihood of the selected roof system requiring a reroofing
allowance.
Sources of Dead Load Information
Given that area dead load calculations, there are a number of
sources that present tables of unit weights expressed in terms
of weight of per unit area. The following are a couple that I
have used in the past:

ASCE 7-05 Tables C3-1 and C3-2. These tables, in the

commentary, is quite extensive. Many typical building

materials are represented in the table. Values in both
USCU and SI units are presented. Table C3-1 expresses
values in terms of force per area for materials typically
distributed uniformly. Table C3-2 gives the densities of
various materials so that weights can be computed.
The AISC Steel Construction Manual, any edition. Under
the "MISC" tab you can find a table of weights of
building materials plus weights and specific gravities for
a wide variety of materials. There is a table the gives
weights of common building materials in terms of weight
per unit area. The table of weights and specific gravities

generally express the weight in terms of weight per

volume. With some simple calculations, these values
can be used to express weights in terms of weight per
unit surface area.
Industry Catalogs. Several manufactures (such as joist
suppliers, truss manufacturers, etc) have included
construction material typical weight tables in their
literature to aid engineers in quickly computing the loads
needed to specify their materials.
Structural Engineering Textbooks: Many design texts
include weight tables in their appendices.

You will find, when you compare sources, there is not complete
agreement in the estimates that each source puts
together. This is to be expected. As with using any tables, you
need to apply a little engineering judgment, taking into account
your actual job conditions. When in doubt it is probably best to
be mildly conservative with your estimate. Being too
conservative may have big ramification in structures with large
dead loads.

Given the inexact nature of dead load computations, it

is common to round dead loads to integer values of no
more than three significant figures.
Linear Members
The dead load of linear members such as beam, columns and
large pipes are generally expressed in terms of weight per unit
length.
For large pipes that flow full, the contents can be considered to
be dead loads because their weights and locations are very
predictable.
Specific Items
Items that cannot reasonably be treated as being area or linear
loads are treated on a case by case basis. Equipment that is
attached to the building is expressed in terms of the connection
loads and are placed at the location of the connection. For
some calculations (generally for those members supporting but
not directly attached to the item) items may be considered as
point loads that act through their center of mass.