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From Address to Load Package

Give the agent the project address, the risk category, and the exposure, and it looks up the site’s wind, seismic, and snow design parameters and returns them with the governing references. From there, ask for the load calc package and the parameters flow straight into it. Any project that needs site hazard data starts the same way: an office building, a water treatment structure, a pedestrian bridge, a telecom mast. The brief is what makes it work, so give the inputs up front:
The site brief
Get the wind, seismic, and snow design parameters for
2200 Harbor Ave, Portland, OR 97201 (Office Building Demo).
Risk Category II, Exposure C, Site Class D, per ASCE 7-22.
List every parameter with the section, table, or hazard map
it comes from.
Address, risk category, exposure, site class, and code edition: a complete brief gets a complete deliverable.

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Step-by-Step

1

Send the site brief

The agent returns the design parameters for the location: wind speed, seismic ground motion values, snow load, each tagged with the reference it comes from.
The site brief and the returned wind design parameters, each value listed with its source figure, table, or section
2

Check the references

Every parameter should trace to a section, table, or hazard map. For any value you will cite in a submittal, ask the agent to quote the source text, the same habit that makes code questions reviewer-ready.
3

Ask for the calc package

One load type per request lands cleanly: the wind package first, then seismic, then snow, each building on the parameters already on the table.
The wind package
Using those parameters, build the wind load calc for the
MWFRS: design pressures for each wall and roof zone, with
the equations and coefficients shown. Deliver it as a calc
package I can check line by line.
The deliverable side of this (formats, downloads, checking the sheet) is covered in Mathcad Calc Sheets.
Put it on your letterhead. Set the project name, number, calc by, checked by, and your company logo once, and every package comes out branded. See Branded Reports.
4

Have it read the numbers back

Before the package leaves your desk, ask the agent to walk you through the governing value in the finished file:
The read-back
Walk me through the governing wind pressure in the finished
file: which zone, which equation, and which coefficients
produced it.
A number you have heard explained is a number you can defend.

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Where the Loads Go Next

The parameters and pressures feed directly into the rest of the design:
  • Element checks: carry the loads into beam, column, and footing checks. See Design Checks.
  • Analysis models: apply them as load cases in an ETABS or SAP2000 model. See Build ETABS & SAP Models.
You are the engineer of record: verify the parameters against the governing hazard data for the site before they drive a design.

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Next Steps

Mathcad Calc Sheets

The calc package deliverable: formats, downloads, checkingMathcad Calc Sheets

Design Checks

Carry the loads into element design checksDesign Checks

Build ETABS & SAP Models

Apply the loads as cases in an analysis modelBuild ETABS & SAP Models

Branded Reports

Header fields and your logo on every deliverableBranded Reports
Questions? Email support@stru.ai or book a call.