Building A Garage In Washington State

By Jay Behm
Building garages in Washington state may be different than other US locations because of the high wind exposures and earthquake (seismic) risk factors - mostly in the coastal, mountain and Puget Sound region. The new IRC (International Residential Code)  & IBC (International Building Code)  are adopted by Washington as base codes and require special engineering for garage plans built in certain areas with high wind speed, exposure and/or severe see map of earthquake risk categories.


Alternatively, Behm Design does offer a few stock prescriptive compliance Washington State Garage Plans which were prepared with prescriptive compliance measures and contain code compliance notations usable in D1 and D2 seismic category locations, such that additional engineering is not required. The plans' numbers end in "D" (i.e. 975-4D")

There are also many areas in central and eastern Washington  that allow the standard prescriptive measures (non-engineered) compliance with the code. Where calculations are required, it is necessary for the Professional Engineer (P.E) consultant to review, mark-up, stamp and sign the garage plans and calculations submitted for the building permit application.                
               
 Due to state-by-state professional licensing requirements, Behm Design Garage Plans cannot provide such additional engineering. However, customers often do use our stock garage plans by taking them to a local professional for the additional work. If a local jurisdiction does not impose special requirements, such that their required design parameters match ours, then the garage plans should work fine for getting the permit. If not, they can be returned as per our guarantee.              
                             
 If additional engineering is required, Behm Design garage plans are now available as electronic PDF downloads which may be easier for a consulting engineer or architect to work with in providing the additional engineering analysis and documentation. We have had many customers do this with our garage plans in Washington, where wind and seismic issues  require further design for extreme conditions. "Consulting Engineers" are listed in yellow pages and some of them work on small projects of this type. Also, builders and contractors are likely to have consultants for such work. Costs vary from a few hundred dollars to over a thousand, depending on location and work required. Although more costly than using just the straight stock garage plans it may still be the least expensive, if not only, way to get permittable and buildable garage plans in a difficult, high risk location/region.
                         
 If you are in such a region you can easily learn about wind and seismic requirements from your local building dept. or inspector. That is always the best source for correct and accurate information. Everything is spelled out in the building code so you can know what will be needed before you start planning the project and
purchasing garage plans. You can also call Jay Behm @ 1-800-210-6776 if you have questions.