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Wall Construction & Coverings — ICC B1 Practice Questions

109 questions · 27% of the ICC B1 exam

Worked questions

1. In a bearing-only calculation, assume a concentric wall load of 1,800 lb per linear foot and an allowable uniform soil bearing pressure of 2,000 lb per square foot. Considering only these supplied values, does a 12-inch-wide strip provide sufficient bearing area?

  • ANo; the calculation requires about 43 inches
  • BNo; the calculation requires about 21.6 inches
  • CNo; the supplied calculation requires 16 inches
  • Yes for this bearing-area check: the calculation requires 10.8 inches

Where to look it up

Explicit exercise assumptions; not a universal code requirement.

Why D is correct

Required width = 1,800 / 2,000 = 0.9 foot = 10.8 inches. A 12-inch strip supplies 1 square foot per linear foot and carries 2,000 lb per linear foot under the stated bearing assumption. This checks bearing area only; it does not approve footing thickness, reinforcement, eccentricity, settlement, code minimums or the actual construction.

2. The exterior wall carries the second floor and the roof, and the studs installed in it are marked with an uncoated base steel thickness of 18 mils. What is the correct finding?

  • AAcceptable, because 18-mil members are the standard thickness for cold-formed steel wall framing whether the wall carries load or not

    Cold-formed steel comes in two families, and 18 mils belongs to the nonstructural one made for interior partitions. Treating it as the standard puts a partition stud under a floor and a roof.

  • BAcceptable, because it is the coating thickness rather than the uncoated base steel thickness that governs the structural capacity of a steel wall stud

    The stamp reports uncoated base steel thickness because that is what carries load, while the coating is corrosion protection. Reading the wrong figure turns an 18-mil member into an apparently adequate one.

  • A violation, because 18-mil members are nonstructural material and a load-bearing wall requires at least the minimum structural thickness of 33 mils
  • DA violation, because interior partitions and exterior bearing walls have to be framed from the same thickness of cold-formed steel members

    Nothing requires partitions and bearing walls to match, and nonstructural members are the right product for a partition. The failure is using them in a wall that carries a floor and a roof.

Why C is correct

The 33-mil threshold is the dividing line between nonstructural and load-bearing cold-formed steel. An 18-mil member is drywall framing; it has no published capacity for carrying a floor and roof, so the inspector rejects it on identification alone without needing to run any numbers.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate can distinguish structural from nonstructural cold-formed steel by base thickness, and understands the difference between coating designation and base steel thickness. It further tests whether the candidate can reject material on identification alone, without needing a calculation, and knows to check more than a single stud before clearing the wall.

On the job

This happens when a drywall subcontractor is asked to frame a few interior walls and their material ends up in an exterior bay, or when a supplier fills a shortfall from the nonstructural rack. It is invisible until someone reads the embossment. The consequence is real, since an 18-mil stud under floor load will buckle. Inspectors on steel-framed jobs read markings in several bays per wall rather than trusting a single sample.

Memory technique

Thirty-three to carry, eighteen just to divide.

Exam tip

Remember 33 mils as the floor for load-bearing steel studs; anything thinner belongs in a partition.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 6 cold-formed steel wall framing, the material and minimum thickness provisions.

3. The concealed space between the stair stringers under the run has been left open at both ends, where it meets the wall cavities at the top and the floor framing at the bottom. What does the code require there?

  • AGypsum board applied to the underside of the stair run and up the face of both stringers

    Membrane protection under a stair is required only where the space beneath is enclosed and used, and it does nothing about the concealed cavity between the stringers. Fireblocking closes that cavity; a finished soffit does not.

  • Fireblocking in the concealed space between the stringers at the top and the bottom of the run
  • CDraftstopping installed across the concealed space at the midpoint of the stair run below

    Draftstopping is a horizontal measure used in floor-ceiling assemblies and in attics with combustible concealed spaces. A stair cavity is blocked at its ends rather than divided somewhere along its length.

  • DNothing, because the concealed space under a stair run falls outside the fireblocking provisions

    The run of a stair is one of the specific locations the fireblocking section names. Leaving it open creates a chimney running from the lower level straight up into the floor system above.

Why B is correct

Stair stringers appear by name in the list of required fireblocking locations, with the blocking called for at the top and bottom of the run. Those are the two points where the diagonal cavity connects to other concealed spaces, so closing them isolates the stair from the rest of the structure.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate can recall a fireblocking location that is neither a wall nor a floor, and knows the specific points along the stair where blocking is required rather than assuming continuous treatment. It also tests whether the candidate keeps the stringer blocking requirement separate from the protection of usable storage space under a stair.

On the job

Basement stairs get framed early, the stringers get open ends, and by final inspection the whole assembly is closed with drywall and trim. Inspectors who do not look during framing never see it again. On remodels the same cavity often connects an old open stringer space to a newly opened wall, which is worse because the fire path now runs between a finished basement and the main floor.

Memory technique

Block the stair where it starts and where it stops.

Exam tip

When a fireblocking question mentions stairs, the answer is top and bottom of the run, between the stringers.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, the fireblocking section, the item addressing concealed spaces between stair stringers.

4. The approved header schedule gives the jack stud count by header span for the loading on this wall: up to 4 feet, one jack; over 4 feet through 8 feet, two jacks; over 8 feet through 12 feet, three jacks. Each end also requires one full-height king stud. At the 10-foot 6-inch family room opening you count two jack studs and one king stud at each end. What does each end of that opening still need?

  • ANothing further; two jacks and one king satisfy the schedule at a span of this size
  • BOne additional king stud at each end, because king studs increase with span at the same rate as jacks
  • CTwo additional jack studs at each end, because the schedule counts studs per face of the wall
  • One additional jack stud at each end, bringing each end to three jacks plus the full-height king

Where to look it up

Explicit exercise assumptions; not a universal code requirement.

Why D is correct

Use only the supplied header schedule: 10 feet 6 inches falls above 8 feet and at or below 12 feet, so each end requires three jack studs. Two are present, leaving one additional jack at each end. The one king stud specified at each end is already present. This result does not establish jack or king counts for a different design.

5. Between the top of the foundation wall and the underside of the floor framing the framer has built a continuous stud wall measuring 5 feet 4 inches in height, and he framed it with the same 2x4 studs at 16 inches on center that he used in the first-floor walls above it. What does the code require of a cripple wall of this height?

  • Studs sized for the wall above plus an additional story, so simply matching the 2x4 studs above is not sufficient at this height
  • BNothing beyond matching the size of the studs used in the wall above, which is exactly what the framer on this job has already done

    Matching the wall above is the intuitive answer and the one the framer acted on. The code treats a cripple wall over 4 feet as another story of framing, so the studs have to be sized for the walls above plus that extra story.

  • CStuds one nominal size larger than those used in the wall above, whenever the cripple wall exceeds 2 feet in height

    One nominal size larger is a rule of thumb rather than the code's instruction, and the 2-foot trigger is invented. The requirement starts above 4 feet and is stated in stories carried, not as a step up in member size.

  • DReplacement with a concrete or masonry wall, because a framed cripple wall is limited to 4 feet in overall height

    Framed cripple walls are not capped at 4 feet; above that height they are simply framed as a story of the building. Requiring masonry swaps a framing requirement for a change of material the code never asks for.

Why A is correct

The code sets two rules for cripple walls: never smaller than the studs above, and, above 4 feet in height, sized for an additional story. This wall is 5 feet 4 inches, so the second rule governs and matching the wall above no longer satisfies it.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows the height threshold at which a cripple wall changes from a matching requirement to an additional-story sizing requirement, and whether the candidate treats the cripple wall as a load-carrying story rather than filler framing.

On the job

Sloping lots and daylight basements produce tall cripple walls constantly, and framers build them out of whatever is stacked on site, which is the wall stock for the floors above. The inspector sees it at the foundation or first framing visit, standing in the crawl space with a tape. Tall cripple walls also carry their own bracing requirements, so the visit usually produces two findings rather than one.

Memory technique

Over four feet, count it as a story.

Exam tip

Four feet is the line where a cripple wall stops being trim framing and becomes a story.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 6 cripple walls, read together with the stud size, height and spacing table for the number of stories supported.

6. The bracing plan permits a diagonal let-in bracing method on this wall. The framer let a 1x4 into the faces of the studs and ran it from the bottom plate to the top plate at an angle you measure at roughly 30 degrees from horizontal. How should the inspector judge the brace?

  • AAccept it; the angle of a let-in brace is not regulated so long as the brace reaches from the top plate down to the sole plate

    Reaching both plates is necessary but not sufficient. The method fixes the slope because a brace flatter than 45 degrees delivers far less of the racking force into the plates, and a very steep one gathers too little wall length.

  • Reject it; the method requires the brace to run between 45 and 60 degrees from horizontal, and this one is flatter than that
  • CAccept it; a 1x4 let in flush with the face of the studs satisfies this bracing method whatever slope the brace takes

    Letting the brace in flush is how the member is installed, not what makes the method work. Material, fastening and slope are all specified, and satisfying two of the three does not produce a braced wall panel.

  • DReject it; let-in bracing may be used only in interior walls that carry no load from the framing above them

    Let-in bracing is a bracing method for braced wall lines that do carry load. Restricting it to non-load-bearing walls confuses it with the ordinary partition framing rules, and it would leave the exterior wall unbraced.

Why B is correct

Let-in bracing is defined by its geometry as much as by its material. The permitted range of 45 to 60 degrees from horizontal keeps the axial force in the brace and the demand on its end connections inside what the method was tested for.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows that a prescriptive bracing method carries geometric limits, and can recognize that a brace outside those limits cannot be counted even though it is real, continuous and properly let in.

On the job

Let-in bracing turns up on garages, accessory buildings and small additions where the builder wants to leave sheathing off. Long walls tempt the framer to lay the brace flat so it clears the openings, and the resulting 25 to 30 degree runs are common. Inspectors carry an angle finder or simply check the rise and run against the studs, since a brace crossing three stud bays over a full wall height is roughly right and one crossing six is not.

Memory technique

Between forty-five and sixty, or it does not count.

Exam tip

For any diagonal brace, check the angle before you check the fasteners.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 6 wall bracing, the table of bracing methods and the description of the let-in bracing method.

7. For a plan-reading exercise at a 10-foot wall height, use this supplied discrete schedule with no interpolation: adjacent opening heights of 64, 80, 96 and 120 inches require panel lengths of 24, 30, 36 and 48 inches respectively. The tallest adjacent clear opening is 96 inches and the panel is 32 inches long. Does it meet this schedule?

  • AYes; 32 inches exceeds the 30-inch minimum the table gives for a segment beside an opening of that size
  • BYes; 32 inches exceeds the 24-inch minimum length the table gives for a wall of this height
  • No; with a 96-inch adjacent opening the segment must be at least 36 inches, so it is 4 inches short
  • DNo; a 10-foot wall always takes the longest value in the table, so a 48-inch segment is required at this opening

Where to look it up

Explicit exercise assumptions; not a universal code requirement.

Why C is correct

The 96-inch opening selects the 36-inch panel requirement. The measured 32-inch panel is 36 − 32 = 4 inches short. Use opening height, not opening width, as the schedule input. This checks the provided schedule; it does not independently validate an IRC table or a changed opening design.

8. At that opening you find the header built up in two plies with a splice over the middle of the opening, the wall sheathing cut along the header line so that separate sheets cover the header and the narrow piers below it, and the strap called for over the header not installed. The piers themselves are the correct width and are anchored. How should the inspector judge the portal frame?

  • Reject it; a portal frame depends on a continuous header across the opening and on sheathing that runs unbroken over the header into the piers with the specified fastening and strapping
  • BAccept it; the piers are the braced elements at this opening and the header above them is only a gravity member carrying the wall above it, so a splice in it does not affect the bracing at that opening

    If the piers alone were the braced elements they would be far too narrow to qualify. The whole reason the method permits piers this narrow is the frame action the continuous header provides.

  • CAccept it; the joint in the sheathing is acceptable because it lands on framing, which is all that the sheathing provisions ask of a panel edge anywhere in a braced exterior wall

    Landing a joint on framing satisfies an ordinary sheathing requirement. In a portal frame the sheathing has to run unbroken across the header-to-pier junction, which is precisely where this joint was cut.

  • DReject it, and require the opening to be narrowed until an ordinary braced wall panel of the required length will fit on each side of the garage door opening in that wall

    Narrowing a garage door opening is an enormous change to correct a detailing failure. The portal frame can be rebuilt in place, and inspectors do not impose design changes to fix workmanship.

Why A is correct

The method works as a frame. Continuity of the header, sheathing lapped over the header into the piers with the specified nailing, and the strap tying them together are what create the frame action, and each of those three is missing or broken here.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate understands that a portal frame is an assembly whose parts must be continuous and connected, and can identify which specific departures destroy the method rather than merely weakening it.

On the job

Portal frames at garage fronts are the highest-consequence bracing detail in a typical house, and they are also the least understood on site. Framers treat the header as a header and sheathe the wall in the usual sheets. Inspectors go to the garage opening first on a bracing inspection, look for a single unbroken sheet wrapping the header, count the nails in the prescribed pattern, and confirm the straps and anchors before anything is covered.

Memory technique

A portal frame is one piece or it is nothing.

Exam tip

In a portal frame, continuity is everything: continuous header, continuous sheathing, connected together.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 6 wall bracing, the portal frame methods and their figures showing header continuity, sheathing lap and strapping.

9. The framer closed off the required draftstop in the floor-ceiling assembly with a sheet of 1/4-inch hardboard stapled to the truss webs. What is the correct finding on that draftstop?

  • Reject it; sheet draftstops are 1/2-inch gypsum board or 3/8-inch wood structural panel at the thinnest, adequately supported
  • BAccept it; a draftstop only has to slow air movement, so any continuous sheet fastened to the framing satisfies the requirement

    The provision names specific materials and thicknesses precisely so that field judgment about what is thick enough does not enter into it. A sheet that flexes and pulls off its staples stops nothing.

  • CReject it; a draftstop in a floor assembly has to be built as a tested one-hour rated assembly carried down both sides of the trusses

    That is the standard for a fire-resistance-rated separation. Draftstopping is a lesser requirement aimed at limiting air movement inside a concealed space, and it is satisfied by a single listed material.

  • DAccept it; hardboard qualifies once the joints are taped and sealed with mastic so that the panel is continuous from edge to edge

    Sealing the joints does nothing about the thickness and support the provision requires, and taping a material that is not on the accepted list does not add it to the list.

Why A is correct

The code lists the materials that may be used as a draftstop and the minimum thickness of each, with 1/2-inch gypsum board and 3/8-inch wood structural panel among the thinnest sheet goods accepted. Quarter-inch hardboard is not a listed material, and stapling it to truss webs does not give the support the provision calls for.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows draftstopping is a materials-and-thickness requirement with a published list, can separate it from fire-resistance-rated construction, and will not accept a substitute simply because it is continuous.

On the job

Truss floors over finished basements are where this comes up most, because the space between the trusses and the ceiling below runs the length of the house. Framers reach for whatever sheet stock is on the truck when the draftstop is the last item before the ceiling goes up. Inspectors carry a tape and check thickness, then push on the panel: if it moves, the support is not there. Getting it wrong is expensive, because the ceiling is usually closed within days.

Memory technique

Half gypsum, three-eighths panel: anything thinner is not a draftstop.

Exam tip

Draftstop materials are a short list with minimum thicknesses. Learn the two sheet goods and their numbers.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 3, fire-resistant construction, the draftstopping section that follows fireblocking; read the materials paragraph.

10. To run a 3-inch waste line the plumber has routed a vertical chase into the form face and cut about 1 1/4 inches into the concrete core over a 6-foot height. How should the inspector handle that chase?

  • AAccept it; the foam face is not structural and a chase cut in the field is permitted wherever it does not expose reinforcement

    The foam face is indeed not structural, which is exactly why cutting past it matters. The option stops one layer short and treats the cut as if it never reached concrete, when the stem says it went 1 1/4 inches in.

  • BAccept it; chases are permitted in concrete walls to a depth of one-third the wall thickness without any further review

    No such general allowance exists for concrete walls. The one-third figure is borrowed from the notching rules for sawn lumber, and applying a wood framing fraction to a reinforced concrete wall is the error this option represents.

  • CReject it; grout may be packed into the cut, after which the wall returns to its full design thickness at the chase

    Grout packed into a cut is unbonded and unreinforced, so it restores appearance rather than section. Any repair has to come from the designer who sized the wall in the first place.

  • Reject it; the core carries the wall, so reducing its thickness needs the designer's evaluation and an approved repair

Why D is correct

The concrete core, not the foam, is the structural wall. A cut removing part of the core over a 6-foot height puts the wall outside the prescriptive thickness tables, so it takes an evaluation by the designer of record and an approved repair before the wall is accepted.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate distinguishes the form from the structural core in an insulating concrete form wall, and knows that a condition outside the prescriptive tables goes back to the designer rather than being resolved by field judgment.

On the job

Insulating form walls hide their condition well: once the plumber tucks the pipe back and the foam is patched, nothing shows. Inspectors get to these before the interior furring goes on and probe any vertical chase with a screwdriver to see whether it stopped at the foam. Deep cuts happen most often for waste lines and radon piping, and they usually run the full height of the wall, which is worse than a single hole.

Memory technique

Foam is a form; concrete is the wall.

Exam tip

In an insulating form wall the concrete is the wall. Cut it and you are outside the tables.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 6, exterior concrete wall construction, together with the general requirement that work outside the prescriptive provisions be designed.

11. The wall has been plastered as one uninterrupted field 12 feet high by 30 feet long, with no control joints anywhere in it and none shown at changes in the framing behind. What does the code require of this plaster field?

  • Control joints dividing the plaster into panels of not more than 144 square feet, with a length-to-width ratio no greater than 2 1/2 to 1
  • BControl joints only where the plaster crosses from one substrate material to a different one, a condition that does not occur anywhere on this wall

    Substrate changes are one trigger for a joint, but not the only one. The area and proportion limits apply on their own, and a wall of one continuous substrate still has to be divided.

  • CNo control joints at all, provided the plaster is reinforced with metal lath run continuous across the full length of the wall

    Lath reinforces the plaster and distributes shrinkage into many fine cracks, but it does not remove the panel size limits. Continuous lath across a 360-square-foot field is exactly the condition the limits address.

  • DControl joints at not more than 20 feet on center horizontally only, since vertical shrinkage is taken up at the screeds

    There is no horizontal-only rule here, and vertical joints matter as much as horizontal ones on a long wall. Screeds terminate the plaster at edges; they do not act as intermediate control joints.

Why A is correct

The referenced plaster standard limits a panel to 144 square feet with a length-to-width ratio no greater than 2 1/2 to 1, and calls for joints where the substrate or the framing direction changes. This 360-square-foot field exceeds the area limit and must be divided by control joints in both directions.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows exterior plaster carries panel size and proportion limits from the referenced standard, and does not accept reinforcement or edge accessories as a substitute for dividing the field.

On the job

Stucco crack complaints are among the most common in residential warranty work, and the cause is almost always a field that was never divided. The inspection happens before the finish coat, while the accessories are visible: an inspector looks for joint accessory in both directions, checks that lath is cut at the joints rather than run through, and confirms the joints line up with framing changes and with the corners of openings.

Memory technique

Big blank stucco walls crack; divide them before they divide themselves.

Exam tip

Stucco panels: 144 square feet and no longer than 2 1/2 times their width.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 7, exterior covering, exterior plaster and the referenced application standard covering control joints.

12. The schedule gives allowable clear spans for this loading of 5 feet 2 inches for a two-ply 2x10, 6 feet 5 inches for a three-ply 2x10 and 7 feet 4 inches for a four-ply 2x10. The clear opening between jack studs measures 6 feet 8 inches. Which header satisfies the schedule? The schedule treats the plywood spacer option as nonstructural filler and gives it no additional span allowance.

  • AA two-ply 2x10 header
  • BA three-ply 2x10 header
  • CTwo 2x10 plies with a plywood spacer between them
  • A four-ply 2x10 header

Where to look it up

Explicit exercise assumptions; not a universal code requirement.

Why D is correct

Convert all spans to inches: the opening is 80 inches; allowable spans are 62, 77 and 88 inches for two, three and four plies. Only the four-ply choice reaches 80 inches. The plywood spacer has no additional allowance under the supplied schedule. This answer is a schedule comparison, not a general capacity claim about all plywood-containing headers.

13. An approved plan defines a single braced wall line using two parallel wall runs of 24 feet and 14 feet, connected by a 3-foot perpendicular jog. For this exercise the plan specifies the projected line length as 24 + 14 feet, excludes the jog from that length, and requires bracing equal to 25 percent of the line length. How much bracing is required?

  • 9 feet 6 inches
  • B10 feet 3 inches
  • C6 feet 0 inches
  • D7 feet 7 inches

Where to look it up

Explicit exercise assumptions; not a universal code requirement.

Why A is correct

The supplied plan defines a 38-foot line. Required bracing is 38 × 0.25 = 9.5 feet, or 9 feet 6 inches. Adding the perpendicular jog would produce 41 feet and 10 feet 3 inches, contrary to the stated plan definition. This calculation does not independently approve the offset, bracing method or panel placement.

14. In one exterior bearing wall the framer has spliced several studs end to end, nailing a 24-inch scab of 2x4 across each joint. How should the inspector judge the spliced studs?

  • AAccept them; a scab at least twice the stud width across the joint restores the member and is the accepted field repair

    The scab holds the pieces in line but carries none of the vertical load across the joint. Calling it a standard repair gives it a status the code does not, and a repair outside the prescriptive provisions needs approval.

  • BAccept them; splices are permitted within the middle third of a stud, and the scab keeps the two pieces aligned under load

    There is no middle-third splice rule for studs. That fraction comes from the notching and boring provisions for joists, and importing it into a column that carries axial load is the error here.

  • CReject them; a splice is acceptable once it is moved so that no two splices land in adjacent studs anywhere in the wall

    Staggering the splices spreads the weakness across the wall rather than curing it. Each spliced stud is still a column interrupted at a point, whatever its neighbors look like.

  • Reject them; studs in a bearing wall run full height in one piece unless a splice is approved by the building official

Why D is correct

A bearing wall stud acts as a column and the prescriptive tables assume one continuous piece. There is no field splice detail, and a nailed scab does not transfer axial load across the joint. The studs must be replaced with full-height members or the splice must be covered by an approved design.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate treats a bearing wall stud as a compression member requiring continuity, recognizes that a field splice is outside the prescriptive provisions, and knows the route back to compliance runs through the building official.

On the job

This appears on jobs running short of material, on remodels where a wall was raised, and where a framer cut studs to the wrong length and tried to save them. It is easy to spot before insulation because the scabs stand proud of the stud face and interfere with the drywall, which is often how the drywall crew finds it first. After insulation and board it is invisible.

Memory technique

A spliced column is two short columns.

Exam tip

Studs are columns. Anything interrupting a column needs a design, not a scab.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 6, wood wall framing, stud size and height provisions, and the general requirement for approval of alternatives.

95 more in the bank

Answers and explanations for these are in the app.

  • The stud grade stamp shows the grading agency mark, a mill number, the grade, the species group and the letters S-GRN. What does that last marking tell the inspector about the lumber?
  • Design values for dimension lumber can only be assigned when the material is identified. What is the appropriate inspector response to unmarked studs standing in a load-bearing wall?
  • The exterior bearing walls are 8 feet tall, framed at 24 inches on center with utility grade studs, and they support a roof and ceiling only. Which single condition prevents you from approving the framing as it stands?
  • A run of end-jointed studs carries a grade mark reading STUD USE ONLY, and the framer has laid several of those pieces flat as a header over a 4-foot interior opening. How should you evaluate that application?
  • The approved plans state that for the species and grade used, 2x6 studs in a load-bearing wall may not exceed 10 feet of laterally unsupported height. The wall has one 2x bottom plate and a double 2x top plate, the studs were cut to 9 feet 8 inches, and your tape reads 10 feet and 1/2 inch from the subfloor to the top of the upper top plate. What is the correct finding?
  • In one exterior bearing wall the joint in the lower top plate member falls 14 inches from the joint in the upper member, and both joints land over a stud. How should you treat that condition?
  • Under what condition may a single top plate be accepted on a wall that carries load from the framing above?
  • In an interior nonbearing partition framed with 2x4 studs, the plumber has notched studs to a depth of 1 and 3/8 inches to let a waste line pass. Applying the notching limits that govern nonbearing walls, what is your finding?
  • A single 2x4 stud in that load-bearing wall has been bored with a 1 and 5/8 inch hole. Using the 40 percent maximum bore diameter allowed in a single load-bearing stud, what is your finding and what would it take to accept a hole of that size?
  • The 2x4 top plate of that bearing wall has been cut and bored so that 2 and 1/4 inches of its 3 and 1/2 inch width is removed. Comparing that to the 50 percent threshold the code sets for top plates, what does the wall now require?
  • One length of that cripple wall measures 11 inches from the top of the sill plate to the underside of the top plate. What does the code require of a cripple wall that short?
  • The approved framing plan lists the allowable clear span for the two-ply 2x10 header at this location as 6 feet 6 inches under the loading shown. You measure the rough opening at 6 feet 9 inches, with the header bearing 1 and 1/2 inches on a jack stud at each end. What is your finding?
  • The header schedule on the approved plans calls for two jack studs at each end of any header spanning more than 6 feet, plus one full-height king stud at each end. Over an 8-foot opening the framer has installed one jack and one king at each end. How many studs must be added at that opening, and why?
  • A 6-foot opening was cut in an interior nonbearing partition and headed with a single 2x4 laid flat, with about 20 inches of cripple framing between that member and the double top plate. How should you evaluate the header?
  • The engineer's design shows each end of the garage header delivering a 9,600-pound concentrated load through the jack studs to a square pad footing, and the soils report gives an allowable bearing pressure of 2,000 pounds per square foot. What minimum plan dimension must each square pad have?
  • The electrician has cut a notch into the flange of several load-bearing steel studs so conduit could pass close to the wall face. How should an inspector treat those cuts?
  • Before accepting load-bearing cold-formed steel studs, what information must the inspector be able to read from the marking on the members themselves?
  • The soffit was framed so that its concealed space opens directly into the stud cavities of the wall below it. What does the code require to be done at that connection?
  • That stud wall runs continuously from the first-floor plate line to the underside of the second-floor ceiling framing, about 19 feet, with nothing interrupting the stud cavities along the way. What does the code require inside that wall?
  • The framer has packed loose-fill cellulose insulation into the chase opening and states that the chase is now fireblocked. How should the inspector evaluate that material?
  • That assembly has usable space above it and usable space below it, and the concealed space between the joists and the suspended ceiling runs continuously across about 1,400 square feet. What does the code require in that concealed space?
  • The mortar being mixed and used on that below-grade masonry wall is Type N. How should the inspector respond to that material choice?
  • Ambient temperature at the wall is 34 degrees Fahrenheit and dropping. At what ambient temperature do the code's cold weather masonry construction procedures become mandatory?
  • A number of the head joints in that solid unit veneer were buttered only at the face, leaving voids behind the visible mortar. How should the inspector evaluate that workmanship?
  • A steel angle lintel carries the veneer across a 9-foot opening, and you measure 2 and 1/2 inches of bearing on the masonry at each end of the angle. What is your finding?
  • The corrugated veneer ties on this wall are installed 32 inches apart horizontally and 24 inches apart vertically, and the applicable requirement is one tie for each 2.67 square feet of wall area. What is your finding?
  • Along several feet of that wall the vertical reinforcing bars have been tied so they bear directly against the form face, and the approved drawings show the bars set with concrete cover on all sides. What is the significance of that condition to the inspector?
  • Placement stopped for about four hours, and the crew resumed against concrete that had already taken its initial set, leaving a visible horizontal line with no keyway, roughening or cleaning of the older surface. How should the inspector treat that interface?
  • Along the bottom of one form panel there is an area where the coarse aggregate stands exposed with voids between the stones and a length of reinforcing steel is visible through the surface. What is your finding?
  • The braced wall line along the rear of the house is 36 feet long. The approved bracing plan requires bracing equal to 20 percent of that length using wood structural panel, with a minimum qualifying panel length of 48 inches at the 8-foot wall height. The framer installed one 48-inch panel and two 36-inch panels in that line. Does the line meet the requirement?
  • That braced wall line is 46 feet long. The applicable limits are a maximum of 12 feet 6 inches from each end of the line to the near edge of the first braced wall panel, and a maximum of 20 feet on center between adjacent panels. The framer began a panel 10 feet from the west end, began another 14 feet from the east end, and the two panels sit 22 feet apart center to center. Which conditions fail?
  • That segment is 28 inches wide at an 8-foot wall height and is sheathed with wood structural panel, but no hold-down hardware was installed at its ends. The plan notes that each end of an alternate braced wall panel requires a tie-down device with a minimum uplift capacity of 1,800 pounds. What is the correct finding?
  • The framer sheathed all the full-height wall areas with wood structural panel but left the wall above the garage door header and the band areas below two windows bare, intending to fill them with rigid foam board. What effect does that have on the bracing?
  • The wood structural panel braced wall panels were fastened with 8d common nails at 12 inches on center along the panel edges and 12 inches in the field, while the bracing schedule calls for 6 inches on center at panel edges. How should the inspector treat those panels?
  • One panel is the correct length and is nailed exactly to the schedule, but the sheathing stops at the top plate and nothing blocks or connects the floor framing above into that wall line. How should the inspector treat the panel?
  • On one elevation the housewrap was run so that the upper course tucks behind the course below it, with the resulting joint covered by seam tape. How should the inspector evaluate that installation?
  • At the second-floor windows the installer relied on a bead of sealant around the frame and tape across the nailing flange, with no pan at the sill, no flashing at the head, and no integration of either into the water-resistive barrier. What requirement should the inspector apply?
  • The weeps are 3/16-inch rope wicks spaced about 4 feet apart, and they sit in the second mortar course above the through-wall flashing. What is your finding?
  • At the rear the untreated wood siding and the framing behind it stop 3 inches above the finished grade, and at the front the same untreated siding stops 1 inch above a concrete patio slab exposed to the weather. What does the code require of wood in those two locations?
  • The weep screed at the foundation plate line sits 2 inches above the earth on the side elevation and 1 inch above a paved walk at the front. What does the code require at those locations?
  • Metal lath has been fastened over a single layer of plastic housewrap applied to wood structural panel sheathing on a wall that will receive cement plaster. What does the code require behind exterior plaster applied over wood-based sheathing?
  • Probing the applied plaster at several points on this wood-framed wall you read about 1/2 inch of total thickness over the metal lath. What should concern the inspector about three-coat cement plaster at that thickness?
  • At the front left corner the upper member of the double top plate stops flush with the corner instead of lapping onto the top plate of the intersecting wall, and the same detail repeats where an interior bearing partition meets the exterior wall. No strap or connector crosses either joint. How should the inspector judge these corners and intersections?
  • The approved plans reproduce the stud table row for the species and grade used: 2x6 bearing wall studs at 16 inches on center are limited to a laterally unsupported height of 10 feet. You measure the installed 2x6 studs at 14 feet from sole plate to top plate, with no blocking, no let-in members and no intersecting framing anywhere along their length. What is the correct inspection outcome?
  • The approved plans reproduce the nonbearing row of the stud table for the material used: 2x3 studs are permitted to a maximum height of 10 feet when spaced 16 inches on center. The partition in front of you measures 9 feet 6 inches tall, is framed with 2x3 studs at 24 inches on center, and carries nothing but its own weight and the wall finish. What should the inspector do?
  • A 9-foot-tall interior partition framed at 16 inches on center carries no load other than its own weight and its finish, and every stud in it is stamped utility grade. The same stamps appear nowhere else in the house. What is the correct inspection response to the use of utility grade material in this wall?
  • The truss drawings in the approved set show a 7,200-pound reaction at the end of the girder truss where it bears on this wall, and the plans note that each 2x6 stud of the species and grade used carries 1,800 pounds in compression at this wall height. Under the bearing point the framer left the ordinary studs at 16 inches on center with nothing added. What does the inspector require?
  • The header over the 9-foot slider bears on one jack stud at each end. At the left end the header was cut about an inch short, so it laps roughly half an inch onto the jack, and the framer drove two toenails through the header into the king stud to hold it. How should the inspector judge that end condition?
  • In several 2x6 exterior bearing walls the framer has replaced the two-ply solid header shown on the approved plans with an assembly of wood structural panel skins over light framing, and he explains that it is a box header taken from a supplier detail that is not in the approved set. What is the correct inspection response?
  • In a 2x4 load-bearing exterior wall the plumber bored a 1-inch hole through a stud for a supply line and placed it off center, leaving 3/8 inch of solid wood between the edge of the hole and the narrow face of the stud. The hole diameter itself is within the maximum permitted for a bearing stud. How should the inspector judge that bore?
  • A 2x6 stud in this exterior bearing wall has been notched 2 inches deep across its 5 1/2-inch face so a waste line can pass. Studs in bearing walls may be notched to a maximum of 25 percent of their width. How should the inspector judge the notch?
  • To pass an oversized line the framer doubled three studs standing side by side in this exterior bearing wall and bored each doubled pair at 60 percent of the stud width, which is larger than the ordinary limit for a single stud. Edge distances and hole locations are otherwise correct. How should the inspector judge that run of studs?
  • A 1 3/8-inch hole was bored on the centerline of a 2x4 stud whose actual width is 3 1/2 inches, and a plastic water line runs through it. The hole diameter itself is within the permitted limit. Protection of the pipe is required wherever less than 1 1/4 inches of wood remains between the pipe and the face of the framing member. What does the inspector require at this stud?
  • The approved bracing plan gives a base required bracing length of 12 feet for the front braced wall line, and it notes that where the spacing between braced wall lines exceeds 35 feet the required length is to be multiplied by an adjustment factor of 1.43. Measuring the plan, the front and rear braced wall lines are 44 feet apart. What total length of qualifying bracing must the front line contain?
  • The bracing plan uses the gypsum board method on this line and reproduces the values that apply: the required bracing length for the line is 14 feet, the minimum length of a qualifying panel at this wall height is 8 feet, and where gypsum board is applied to only one face of the wall the required length is doubled. The framer boarded one face only, in segments measuring 8 feet, 8 feet, 10 feet and 6 feet. What is the result?
  • The approved plan notes that each end of a continuously sheathed braced wall line must be finished either with a sheathed corner return of at least 24 inches or, where the return is shorter, with an approved tie-down device at that corner. At the left end of the front wall you measure a wood structural panel return of 12 inches onto the side wall, and there is no tie-down hardware anywhere at that corner. What should the inspector do?
  • A second-floor braced wall panel lands directly over a floor cantilever that projects 3 feet past the wall below, and there is no braced wall panel or other supporting element beneath it. The approved set contains no detail for carrying a braced wall panel on a cantilever. The panel itself is the required length and is nailed exactly to the schedule. How should the inspector judge it?
  • Over 7/16-inch wood structural panel sheathing the builder installed 1 inch of rigid foam, then nailed 7/16-inch lap siding through the foam directly into the studs with 2 1/2-inch nails. The siding submittal in the approved set requires the fastener to penetrate at least 1 1/4 inches into the framing. How should the inspector judge the attachment?
  • The brick veneer on this house is carried on a foundation ledge, and the approved detail requires the units to bear on the supporting foundation over at least two-thirds of their thickness. The brick has an actual thickness of 3 5/8 inches, and measuring along the front elevation you find it bearing on 2 inches of the ledge with the remainder overhanging the outer face. Does the bearing satisfy the detail?
  • The corrugated ties on this veneer are bent down into the bed joints. Watching several go in and checking the mason's own sample panel, you find the ties reaching about 1 inch into the bed joint with roughly 1/4 inch of mortar between the end of the tie and the outside face of the brick. Tie spacing and the fastening of the ties to the framing are both correct. What should the inspector do?
  • The entry is faced with thin stone units bonded to a scratch coat over lath. The installer used no corrosion-resistant ties, no supporting shelf at the base and no steel lintel over the door opening. The units are well under the weight limit that defines this class of veneer, and the backing is continuous behind them. How should the inspector judge the absence of ties and a lintel?
  • At the lower end of that roof-to-wall intersection the roofer stopped the step flashing at the last shingle course and the siding contractor ran the wall covering down over it, with nothing installed to turn water away from the wall. The gutter begins about a foot back along the eave. Water leaving the roof at that point runs directly onto and behind the wall covering. What should the inspector require?
  • The barrier is installed shingle fashion with each upper course over the one below, but measuring at several places you find horizontal laps of about 1 inch and vertical seam laps of about 2 inches, each taped along its edge. The manufacturer's instructions in the approved submittal say nothing about lap dimensions. What should the inspector do?
  • The siding has been face nailed at every stud with the heads driven flush. The manufacturer's installation instructions included in the approved submittal call for blind nailing at the top edge of each course at this exposure and permit face nailing only in higher wind exposures with a different fastener. The installer tells you the code does not distinguish between the two methods. What is the correct inspection response?
  • The vertical joints in the panel siding fall over studs and are shiplapped. The horizontal joint where the upper panels meet the lower panels at the second-floor line is a square butt joint sealed with a bead of caulk, and the panel edges at that joint are not supported by framing or blocking. How should the inspector judge the horizontal joint?
  • The brick is being laid tight against the sheathing with nothing between the two, no flashing at the base of the wall and no weeps in the first course. The builder tells you a full brick wythe sheds all the water it will ever see, so a barrier behind it would only trap moisture. How should the inspector respond?
  • The crew applied the scratch coat in the morning, put the brown coat on about four hours later the same day, and returned the next morning for the finish coat. The wall was kept in shade but no water was applied to it at any point between coats. How should the inspector judge the sequence?
  • The weep screed at the foundation plate line is the correct type and sits at the correct height above the finished grade. Looking closely at the lath work you find that the water-resistive barrier was cut off at the top of the screed's attachment flange, so the barrier ends above the flange rather than draining onto it, and the lath was fastened over that arrangement. What should the inspector do?
  • The rating on that side wall is achieved with a tested assembly using gypsum board on the interior face. The mechanical contractor has cut a 4-inch round hole through the rated wall for a clothes dryer exhaust, pushed the duct through it, and left an open annular space around the duct with nothing else done. How should the inspector judge the penetration?
  • At the top of a framed mechanical chase the framer has fireblocked the opening with pieces of 1/2-inch gypsum board cut to fit the space, fastened to the framing on every side, with tight joints and no gaps at the perimeter. The builder assumes you will reject it because it is not lumber. How should the inspector judge that fireblocking?
  • In the tub and shower area the installer has hung regular paper-faced gypsum board as the backing for ceramic tile, carried it to the ceiling, and plans to set the tile on it with thinset mortar. The rest of the bathroom is finished with the same board. What is the correct inspection response to the backing in the wet area?
  • The partitions in this basement are framed at 24 inches on center and the crew hung 3/8-inch gypsum board on them. The approved plans reproduce the applicable rows of the gypsum board table: 3/8-inch board is permitted on walls with framing spaced 16 inches on center, and 1/2-inch board is permitted on walls with framing spaced 24 inches on center. How should the inspector judge the installation?
  • Along several sheets of wood structural panel wall sheathing the edge nails are driven roughly 1/8 inch in from the panel edge, and in a number of places the nail has broken out through the edge of the panel entirely. Panel layout, edge spacing along the sheet and framing behind the joints are all correct. What is the correct inspection response?
  • A 48-inch braced wall panel that you approved earlier met its minimum length and its nailing schedule. Since then the electrician has cut a 14-inch by 20-inch opening through the middle of that panel to recess a panelboard, leaving sheathing only around the edges of the cut. How should the inspector treat that braced wall panel now?
  • The veneer over the living room window is carried on a steel angle with correct bearing at each end. Above the angle the mason laid brick directly on the steel with no flashing in the joint above it and no weeps in the course above. At the base of the wall two stories below, both the through-wall flashing and the weeps are correctly installed. How should the inspector judge the head of that opening?
  • Where that porch roof meets the wall, the siding has been run down onto the shingles and scribed to sit tight against the roof surface, with step flashing installed behind it. The installer explains that the tight fit is what keeps water from getting under the siding. How should the inspector judge the detail?
  • Over 1 1/2 inches of foam sheathing the builder installed vertical wood furring strips to carry the lap siding and create a drained cavity behind it. Checking the fasteners, you find the furring screwed into the wood structural panel sheathing only, with the screws landing between studs along most of the wall. How should the inspector judge the furring?
  • The approved bracing plan notes that required bracing along this line is 20 percent of the braced wall line length, shows the line at 80 feet, and gives 48 inches as the minimum qualifying panel length at this wall height. The line as built measures 85 feet because of the extension. The panels installed along it measure 4 feet, 4 feet, 6 feet, 3 feet 6 inches and 4 feet. What is the correct finding?
  • A laborer is running a hose over the pallets of concrete masonry units and soaking them just before they are laid, and the mason explains that it keeps the mortar from drying too quickly. How should the inspector evaluate that practice?
  • The reading at the wall is 102 degrees Fahrenheit with a light breeze, and the mason is laying units with no special measures in place. At what condition do the hot weather construction provisions begin to apply?
  • Each corbeled course projects 2 1/2 inches past the course below it, and the units are 3 5/8 inches high with a 7 5/8-inch bed depth. What limit applies to the projection of an individual corbel course?
  • The glass block is laid up as one continuous panel measuring 14 feet wide by 12 feet high, mortared solid to the surrounding construction at the head and both jambs. Which limit governs the size of this panel?
  • The ceiling framing is 24 inches on center, the crew hung 1/2-inch regular gypsum board perpendicular to the members, and the finisher will spray a water-based texture over it. How should the inspector judge this ceiling?
  • The board is 1/2 inch thick on framing spaced 16 inches on center, and you measure the screws at 16 inches on center on the ceilings and 16 inches on center on the walls. What is the correct finding on the fastening?
  • Sighting down the wall you find the second-floor studs land an average of 2 inches off the centerlines of the studs below, with the floor joists framed between them. What does the code require of this alignment?
  • The installer fastened studs to tracks with self-drilling tapping screws, and at many connections the screw point stops flush with the back face of the track. What does the code require of these screws?
  • The walls are filled with unfaced fiberglass batts, the exterior is sheathed with wood structural panel and housewrap with no continuous insulation, and no interior vapor retarder has been installed. What is the correct finding?
  • Every window carries a manufacturer's label, but none of the labels shows a design pressure rating and the builder says the supplier confirmed by telephone that the units are rated for the site. What should the inspector require?
  • Several studs in this bearing wall were cut short, and their ends stand between 3/8 and 1/2 inch above the web of the bottom track, held only by the screws through the flanges. How should the inspector judge this condition?
  • The corrugated ties are fastened with roofing nails driven through the wood structural panel sheathing between the studs, and the mason says the sheathing holds them well. How should the inspector judge that attachment?
  • Above the head trim of every window and door on this wall, the siding runs down onto the trim with a bead of sealant and nothing else. What does the code require at the heads of these openings?
  • The wall stands 3 feet from the line used to determine fire separation distance, and the builder has installed the rated gypsum membrane on the interior face only. How should the inspector judge that?
  • You measure bed joints of 3/4 inch through several courses in that area, with head joints in the same courses at 5/8 inch. What requirement applies to the thickness of these joints?
  • The angle carries brick veneer across a 10-foot clear opening, and the calculations submitted show it deflecting 1/2 inch under the veneer load. Which deflection limit applies to a lintel supporting masonry veneer, and does this angle meet it?
  • The plan requires 15 feet 0 inches of braced wall panel on this line and sets a 4-foot 0-inch minimum panel length for the method used. The framer sheathed and nailed panels measuring 4 feet 0 inches, 3 feet 6 inches, 4 feet 0 inches and 4 feet 0 inches. What may be credited?

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