STRUCTURAL DESIGN MANUAL
FOR HOSPITAL PROJECTS
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
June 2006
CRITERIA UNIQUE TO VA: All new facilities, new additions, and existing
1.
buildings requiring major renovation and/or seismic strengthening shall
be designed in accordance with VA Handbook H-18-8, "Seismic Design
Requirements".
2.
GENERAL:
2.1
Structural design of VA facilities shall comply with the latest
editions of the following:
A.
Reinforced concrete design - ACI Standard 318M (metric
version) and 318, "Building Code Requirements for Reinforced
Concrete", American Concrete Institute.
B.
Structural steel design - "Specification for the Design,
Fabrication and Erection of Structural Steel for Buildings",
American Institute of Steel Construction.
C.
Unless otherwise noted above - "International Building Code",
IBC 2003
D.
Significant variations from the above in local building codes
shall be brought to the attention of the Director, Area Team
Project Management Office, for approved substitution prior to
their use in the structural design.
2.2
Where applicable, verify the load-bearing capability of the
existing structural elements to support the new design loads.
2.3
Where alterations are made to the structural elements in existing
buildings, these elements individually and the buildings as units,
must maintain adequate strength to safely resist both gravity and
lateral loads. Any resulting deficiencies must be reinforced
accordingly.
2.4
Follow the Fire Protection Design Manual for fireproofing
requirements of structural elements.
3.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN LOAD REQUIREMENTS:
3.1
Minimum uniform basic design live loads shall conform to IBC 2003
requirements, except as shown in Table 1 and Table 2.
Allowance of 100 kg/m2 (20 psf) shall be made for partitions on
3.2
floors where specified live load is less than 500 kg/m2 (100 psf),
in addition to all other loads. Where live loads are 500 kg/m2
(100 psf) and greater, specific partition locations may be used
for design; however, appropriate notes must be made on the
drawings.
3.3
Provision shall be made in designing floors for a concentrated
load of 900 kg (2000 lb), placed upon any space 750 mm (2.5 ft)
square, wherever this load upon an otherwise unloaded floor would
produce stresses greater than those caused by the uniform load. On
walk-on ceiling the design concentrated load shall be 140 kg (300
lb).
3.4
In order to provide a flexible design allowing certain range of
occupancy changes in the future, generalized live load categories
should be applied to large areas preferably one category to any
one floor.
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