Our commercial plan review staff are committed toward carrying out the requirements prescribed in the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (USBC). The submittal requirements for plan review are mandated by the Building Official as empowered by USBC section 109:
109.1 Submittal of documents
Construction documents shall be submitted with the application for a permit. The number of sets of such documents to be submitted shall be determined by the locality. Construction documents for one- and two-family dwellings may have floor plans reversed provided an accompanying site plan is approved.
109.3 Engineering details
When determined necessary by the building official, construction documents shall include adequate detail of the structural, mechanical, plumbing or electrical components. Adequate detail may include computations, stress diagrams or other essential technical data and when proposed buildings are more than two stories in height, adequate detail may specifically be required to include where floor penetrations will be made for pipes, wires, conduits, and other components of the electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems and how such floor penetrations will be protected to maintain the required structural integrity or fire-resistance rating, or both. All engineered documents, including relevant computations, shall be sealed by the RDP responsible for the design.
Codes and Standards
All jurisdictions in the Commonwealth of Virginia enforce the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (VUSBC)2018 ICC International Building Code
2018 ICC International Fire Code
2018 ICC International Plumbing Code
2018 ICC International Mechanical Code
2018 ICC International Fuel Gas Code
2018 ICC International Energy Conservation Code
2018 ICC International Residential Code
2018 ICC International Existing Buildings Code
2017 NFPA 70
The model codes and supplements listed above may be purchased directly from the International Code Council (ICC). You may purchase the Virginia Uniform Statewide Building Code (VUSBC) amendments to the ICC code at http://www.iccsafe.org/. These Virginia State codes have all of the VUSBC amendments to the model codes.
The VUSBC parts 1 and 2 have administrative provisions that replace chapter one of the model codes referenced and they provide State technical amendments to the referenced model codes. Jurisdictions may not make further amendments to the VUSBC.
Further standards are referenced in the codes above for various aspects of design. Note that the State adopted the more recent editions of the following, than are referenced in chapter 35 if the IBC: NFPA 13-07, NFPA 13R-07, NFPA 13D-07, NFPA 14-07, NFPA 72-07, ASTM E 329-02.
Design Criteria
The following load criteria are based on Chapter 16 of the 2018 Virginia Construction Code, the 2005 ASCE-7 and Chapter 3 of the 2018 Virginia Residential Code.
GROUND SNOW LOAD: 25 PSF
WIND SPEED: 115 MPH 3 SECOND GUST, 89 MPH FASTEST WIND SPEED
EARTHQUAKE SPECTRAL RESPONSE: .16 @ SHORT PERIODS
RESIDENTIAL SEISMIC DESIGN CATEGORY: B
WEATHERING PROBABILITY FOR CONCRETE: SEVERE
TERMITE INFESTATION PROBABILITY: MODERATE TO HEAVY
DECAY PROBABILITY: MODERATE
ICE/ WATER SHIELD REQUIRED: YES
WINTER DESIGN TEMPERATURE: 17 °F
AIR FREEZING INDEX: LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO 1500 DEGREES °F.
FROST DEPTH: 24”
MEAN ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: 50°F.