IBC Section 1607.5 requires a minimum 15 PSF partition load allowance for office buildings and buildings where partition locations may change. Many designs incorrectly specify 10 PSF, resulting in under-designed floor systems that will fail plan check.
Catch partition load errors before plan check
AI structural and code review flags load table mistakes with the structural checker. Standard starts at $50, and your first $100 is covered.
"In office buildings and in other buildings where partition locations are subject to change, provisions for partition weight shall be made, whether or not partitions are shown on the construction documents, unless the specified live load is 80 psf (3.83 kN/m²) or greater. The partition load shall be not less than a uniformly distributed live load of 15 psf (0.72 kN/m²)."
Key points:
The most common violation: specifying a 10 PSF partition allowance when code requires a 15 PSF minimum. This is 33% below code requirements.
Some designs omit partition load entirely, assuming partitions won't change. Code requires the allowance regardless of current plans.
Notes stating 'actual weight of partitions' without the 15 PSF minimum fail to meet code when partitions may be relocated.
Critical issue found, from a 25-story high-rise project
Issue: The drawing explicitly states "An allowance of 10 PSF or the actual weight of the wall, whichever is greater, has been made for partitions as a uniformly distributed dead load."
Problem: This is 33% below the code-required 15 PSF minimum. All affected floor framing would need to be redesigned, potentially affecting member sizes and connections throughout the building.
How AI catches this
AI plan review compares the stated partition load against code requirements and flags values below the 15 PSF minimum.
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