Thanks for your help.
Gary: you stated that you’d have a minimum 4’-0” long panel placed at the midpoint. This is exactly my question. Where does it state that the minimum panel length is 4’-0”?
I know in the IRC it states the 16% of the length, but if you have a commercial building, you have to use the IBC.
Just for example, let’s say my client wants to stay within the limits of Conventionally Framed Construction, but wants a storefront appearance and says I want the openings to be as large as code allows and spacing between windows to be minimal. Let’s say the wall is 30’ long. If I have a 1’-0” wall brace at each corner and one in the midpoint of the wall. It satisfies the 12’-6” end distance, but if you look at the bracing ratio, you are only at 10% of the total wall length.
Now I’ll also state that I’d never use (3) 1’-0” wide brace wall segments in a 30’ long wall to brace the building… but I’m just saying the code seems to have left some guidelines out, or I can’t find them. There should be something like a minimum length to be considered a braced wall segment, must satisfy a minimum H/L ratio or something.
I know I would use my engineering judgment to set minimums in this case, but if I’m to look at the details of the code, they are not there.
Andy