Calculating Design Loads for Residential and Small Commercial Buildings
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Registration: 8:00 – 8:30 am
Morning Session: 8:30 am – 12:15 pm
Lunch (On your own): 12:15 – 1:15 pm
Afternoon Session: 1:15 – 5:00 pm
Treatment of Structure Loads in Building Codes and Standards
Building codes
• Historical considerations
• ASCE 7-5 and 7-10
• CRSI, ASTM, API, AASHTO, FAA, AREA, AWWA, SCEANC, FEMA, etc
Load combinations
• Allowable Strength Design (ASD)
• Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD)
Dead Loads
Definition of dead load
Common materials and components
Live Loads
Definition of live load
Live load examples
• Roofs, floors, walls
• Traffic and various wheel loads, distribution considerations
Wind Loads
ASCE 7 Background
Computing wind loads
• Main wind force resisting system (MWFRS)
• Components
• Parapets
Rain and Snow Loads
Ponding and drainage
Snow: Balanced, unbalanced and drifting
Water, Moving and Still
Hydrostatic pressure
Flood loads
• Uplift, flowing water, scour, relief of flood forces
Waves
Seismic, Blasting and Ground Vibration Loads
Basic seismic considerations
• Ground motion and equivalent lateral force
• ASCE 7 design formulae and coefficients, how does all this work?
• Non-building structures
Ground vibration from blasting
Earth Pressure Loads
Retaining walls
Buried structures
• Active, passive and at-rest conditions
Live loads, direct and through soil
Application of Loads to Various Structures and Components
Common building components: joists, rafters, beams, columns and walls
Structural analysis considerations
Examples and case studies
• Wind loads on components
• Foundation in flood-prone area
• Buried vault
Using Spreadsheets and Software to Calculate Design Loads
Spreadsheet design considerations
Examples and case studies
Credits
Architects
7.0 HSW Contact Hours
7.0 AIA HSW Learning Units
Professional Engineers
7.0 PDHs
International Code Council
.7 CEUs – Building
Contractors
Non-Credit Continuing Ed.
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public and offers up to 7.0 HSW contact hours to architects and 7.0 PDHs to professional engineers in all states. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in North Carolina. HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education provider for engineers in North Carolina.
This seminar is approved by the American Institute of Architects for 7.0 HSW Learning Units (Provider No. J885). Courses approved by the AIA qualify for North Carolina architects.
HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education sponsor for architects in Florida and is deemed an approved sponsor in New York. HalfMoon Education is an approved continuing education sponsor for engineers in Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey (Approval No. 24GP00000700), New York (NYSED Sponsor No. 35), and North Dakota.
The International Code Council has approved this event for .7 CEUs in the specialty area of Building.
This seminar also offers a non-credit continuing education opportunity to contractors. It has not been approved by any state contractor licensing entity.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.
Speakers
Gregory A. Robinson, P.E.
Consulting EngineerMr. Robinson is a graduate of North Carolina State University from which he received his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and his master of Civil Engineering degree. He has over 30 years of experience in the structural engineering field and has been in private practice for over 24 years. Prior to establishing his own practice Mr. Robinson worked for Bechtel Petroleum in San Francisco and for various structural engineering firms in the Raleigh area. Mr. Robinson is a licensed professional engineer in 16 states. He has taught structural analysis classes at the community college level and has conducted numerous seminars over the last 20 years. He also served on a sub-committee for the North Carolina Building Code Council tasked with reviewing the provisions of the North Carolina Residential Code for interior moisture control and water intrusion. Mr. Robinson’s practice includes design, analysis and evaluation of steel, concrete, masonry and timber structures. He has investigated over 1,500 wood frame buildings for damage, and he has developed plans of repair for structures and finishes.