JMVC Consulting Structural Engineers

Ever opened a set of structural drawings and felt like you were looking at a different language? You are not alone. Most homeowners and even contractors miss critical information buried in those sheets. Here is a quick walkthrough to help you actually understand what you are looking at.

A structural drawing set is organized in a deliberate sequence. The general notes come first, usually listing applicable codes (IBC, ASCE 7, ACI 318, AISC 360, NDS), design loads, material specifications, and contractor responsibilities. Always read this page. It tells you the rules of the project.

The foundation plan shows footings, stem walls, slab thickness, anchor bolt locations, and rebar layout. The framing plans show joists, rafters, beams, posts, and shear wall locations on each floor and roof level.

Schedules tabulate beams, columns, footings, and hardware. They are referenced from the plans using callouts. Without reading the schedules, you cannot build what is shown.

Finally, the details sheet shows exactly how connections are made: hold-downs, ledger bolts, post bases, beam pockets. This is where most field errors happen.

If your contractor is skipping the details sheet, that is a red flag.

Have you ever caught a discrepancy on your structural drawings before construction started?

Live load or dead load? If you have ever read a permit set and wondered what those terms actually mean, here is the simple breakdown.

Dead loads are the permanent, fixed weights of a structure. The framing, sheathing, roofing, drywall, mechanical systems, and anything else that stays in place forever. These weights do not change once the building is finished.

Live loads are temporary or movable. People walking through the space, furniture, vehicles in a garage, snow on a roof, even storage in a warehouse. They come and go, and they vary based on how the space is used.

Why does this matter to you as a homeowner, contractor, or developer? Your structural engineer designs every beam, column, and footing to handle both at the same time, and the load combinations required by ASCE 7 and the IBC dictate the safety factors applied. Misclassify a load and the member may end up undersized, leading to cracks, excessive deflection, or worse.

If a contractor ever suggests skipping calculations because the addition is "small," that is your cue to call a licensed structural engineer.

What is one structural term you have always wondered about but never asked?