Chapter 5 Overview

Chapter 5 is titled 'Floors' and covers common one- & two-family floor design and construction, including concrete slab-on-ground. Chapter 5 also covers exterior decks (including foundation, beams, and attachment to the primary structure details). Floors, with the exception of concrete slab-on-ground, are typically made with structural framing members (joists) spaced at regular intervals, which are covered with a floor sheathing, such as lumber, wood structural panels, or particleboard.

The model shows a piece of wood structural panel sheathing (referred to as 'plywood'), a truss joist, an I-joist, solid-sawn lumber, and a cold-formed steel joist. A designer may use tables in the IRC to determine size and span of common sheathing, solid-sawn lumber, and cold-formed steel; whereas other types of floor framing will require referencing other codes or standards, as mandated by Chapter 5.