To review wood shear walls and diaphragms against SDPWS, confirm the SDPWS edition the adopted building code references, then trace each shear wall and diaphragm from its plan tag through the schedules, nailing, hold-downs, and anchorage to the details. Every tagged wall should have one schedule entry, the same sheathing and fastening in every source, a hold-down and anchorage at each end the design calls for, and a segment length and height the engineer has checked against the edition’s aspect ratio limits; every diaphragm should match its nailing, chords, and collectors. AI can flag conflicts; the engineer of record and the building official decide compliance.
What does SDPWS cover?
AWC’s 2021 SDPWS page describes the ANSI/AWC Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic as providing criteria for proportioning, designing, and detailing engineered wood systems, members, and connections in lateral force-resisting systems, by allowable stress design or load and resistance factor design, and says it provides nominal shear capacities of diaphragms and shear walls for reference assemblies. Its table of contents runs from a designer flowchart through general design requirements and members and connections to the lateral force-resisting systems chapter, with appendices. AWC offers a free view-only version and sells the PDF, with the commentary in a package and an errata sheet posted for the 2021 edition. Where the NDS guide follows wood members and connections, this page follows the lateral system.
AWC announced on September 24, 2026 that it published ANSI/AWC SDPWS-2027, approved as an American National Standard, which it says will be referenced in the 2027 I-Codes, adds a post-tensioned timber rocking wall and a high-capacity one-sided shear wall system, and revises the cross-laminated timber diaphragm provisions. AWC’s 2027 SDPWS page offers a free view-only version and says the edition will be available for purchase in 2027, while the 2021 edition remains on sale. Checked October 22, 2026. The edition that governs is the one in the referenced standards chapter of the building code the jurisdiction adopts, with its amendments, so a project under a current code will usually cite an earlier SDPWS than the newest one; record the edition the adopted code names rather than assuming the 2027 edition applies.
Wind and seismic loads, and the seismic design parameters the system is designed for, come from the building code and ASCE 7; see the ASCE 7 guide. Houses designed under the residential code’s prescriptive wall bracing follow the IRC guide instead, and cold-formed steel shear walls follow the AISI S240 guide.
Gather the lateral system and the sheets that carry it
Collect the structural general notes with the design basis and lateral system description, the shear wall schedule and shear wall plans for each level, the hold-down and strap schedules, foundation plans with anchor bolt and hold-down anchor locations, roof and floor framing plans with diaphragm nailing, chord, collector, and blocking notes, the typical shear wall, diaphragm, and drag strut details, the rough carpentry and sheathing specifications, the architectural door and window schedules, and the lateral calculations.
Add the SDPWS and NDS editions the adopted code references, from copies you are licensed to upload, and connector and continuous rod tie-down product data or delegated design submittals if hold-down systems are delegated.
Trace each shear wall and diaphragm through the set
| Review question | Sources to compare | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Edition and design basis | Structural general notes, lateral calculations, sheathing specification | Confirm one SDPWS edition and design method are cited and that they match the adopted code’s referenced edition. |
| Plan tags and schedule | Shear wall plans, shear wall schedule, lateral calculations | Check that every tagged wall has one schedule entry with the same sheathing, sides sheathed, fastener type, edge and field spacing, and framing at panel edges. |
| Wall segment proportions | Shear wall plans, elevations, architectural plans, lateral calculations | Record segments whose drawn length and height, as dimensioned, the engineer should confirm against the aspect ratio limits and adjustments in the edition used. |
| Hold-downs and end posts | Hold-down schedule, shear wall plans, foundation plans, details, product data | Confirm each wall end the design requires has a hold-down, end post, and anchor in every source, and that stacked walls line up level to level. |
| Anchorage and sill plates | Foundation plans, anchor bolt notes, typical sill details, schedule | Match anchor bolt spacing, plate washers, and sill plates called in the schedule to the foundation plan and details. |
| Diaphragms, chords, and collectors | Floor and roof framing plans, diaphragm notes, drag strut and chord details | Check that sheathing, blocking, boundary and edge nailing, chords, and collectors shown in the notes appear on the plans and details with no gaps at openings or re-entrant corners. |
Openings that land in a shear wall segment show up when the architectural door and window schedules are compared with the shear wall plans. Lateral loads and the calculations behind the schedules continue in the structural calculations checklist, the wider set in the structural drawing review checklist, existing wood buildings in the ASCE 41 seismic retrofit guide, and shear wall nailing and hold-down inspections in the special inspections corrections guide.
Example: a shear wall type the schedule never defines
Hypothetical example. A three-story wood-frame apartment building over a slab on grade uses sheathed shear walls and a wood structural panel floor diaphragm. The second-floor shear wall plan tags two corridor walls with a type that is not in the shear wall schedule, the hold-down schedule lists a hold-down at only one end of a short wall at the stair, the architectural window schedule places a new window in a tagged shear wall segment, and the sheathing specification permits a fastener type different from the one the schedule names.
Two corridor walls on the second-floor shear wall plan carry a type not defined in the shear wall schedule, the stair wall shows a hold-down at one end only, a scheduled window falls inside a tagged shear wall segment, and the specification allows a fastener different from the schedule. Confirm the wall types, the hold-downs, the segment length with the opening, and the fastener, and coordinate the plans, schedules, and specification.
The engineer of record confirms the intended wall types and segments, adds or removes the hold-down, and aligns the specification with the schedule. The finding is a conflict between documents, not a judgment of the lateral design.
Review wood shear walls and diaphragms with Groundbook
Upload the current drawings and specifications to Groundbook, and state the edition, amendments, and review scope in your instructions. Add the SDPWS and NDS editions the adopted building code references, from copies you are licensed to use where the license permits uploading them, along with the adopted code and its amendments. See how Groundbook works with local and licensed codes.
Compare the structural general notes, shear wall plans and schedule, hold-down and strap schedules, foundation plans, floor and roof framing plans with diaphragm notes, shear wall, diaphragm, chord, and collector details, the sheathing and rough carpentry specifications, the architectural door and window schedules, and the lateral calculations. Flag a missing or conflicting SDPWS edition, wall tags with no schedule entry, sheathing or fastening that differs for the same wall, wall segments whose proportions the engineer should confirm, wall ends with no hold-down or anchorage in one source, stacked walls that do not align, openings inside shear wall segments, and diaphragm nailing, chords, or collectors missing from the plans or details. Use the supplied SDPWS and cite both sources.
Groundbook links each potential finding to the sheets, schedules, and documents involved. It does not compute shear capacities, aspect ratio adjustments, or hold-down forces.
Document review does not certify compliance or design the lateral system, and it does not replace the engineer of record, the special inspector, or the building official.