Lateral load design in residential construction has evolved significantly over the years. I provided an overview of this evolution and highlighted key design considerations in a presentation at the 9th World Conference on Timber Engineering, in August. A brief summary is below. Look for APA’s other conference presentations to be posted on the Blog soon.

Change in lateral load design of residential construction over the last decade is the result of the architectural desire to build structures with larger windows, without compromising their structural safety. In addition to this retrospective, and more important, is a forward-look into current efforts to make the prescriptive code more comprehensive and consistent. The development of the international family of codes is discussed as a possible driving force for the current evolution in the prescriptive bracing provisions of the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC).

My colleague, Ed Keith, P.E., was the primary author of The Evolution of Lateral Load Design in Residential Construction. Read more about the 2006 World Conference on Timber Engineering.