Check wall removal drawings by confirming the existing heights are measured, then tracing the header from the framing plan through its detail, its calculation and the door maker’s drawing: one position (flush or dropped), a deflection the door can tolerate, and an opening that fits under the framing above. Then check the posts, connectors, footings, replacement shear walls, demolition scope, sill and flashing, and the energy and code sheets the permit needs.
Start from the measured existing conditions
Every later check depends on the existing plate height, the roof or floor framing above the wall and the finish floor. Old drawings and scaled sections are not enough: the header sits in a fixed space between the top of the opening and the framing it supports. Ask whether the designer measured the existing conditions on site and dimensioned them on the section.
In the house wall removal permit review, the section drew the existing roof at about the height where the top of the new beam would sit over an opening of the size the door needed, which left no room for the sheathing, the beam’s deflection or a different bearing condition.
Twelve questions for wall removal drawings
Work through the set in this order. The CSV has columns for the location, the source references, the reviewer, the status, the decision and the closure evidence. It contains no design values; those come from the engineer’s calculations and the products chosen.
| Review area | Open these sources together | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| Existing conditions that set the opening | Existing floor plan and section, site measurements, structural notes | Are the existing plate height, roof framing direction, bearing points and finish floor measured and shown, rather than scaled from an old drawing? |
| What the removed wall carried | Roof or floor framing plan, structural calculations, architectural section | Do the framing plan and calculations show every load the removed wall carried, including roof overhangs, rafter tails and any point loads above it? |
| Header position: flush or dropped | Framing plan callout, general notes, header detail, calculations | Do the plan, the notes, the detail and the calculation all treat the header the same way, flush with or below the framing above? |
| Opening height under the header | Door or window manufacturer’s drawing, architectural section and elevation, header depth | Does the rough opening plus the header depth fit below the existing roof or floor framing, with the head height the door needs dimensioned? |
| Header deflection against the door | Calculations, structural notes, door or window manufacturer’s drawing and installation instructions | Is the header’s deflection criterion stated, and does it fit the head clearance and deflection limit the door maker allows for a sliding or folding door? |
| Posts, connectors and uplift | Post schedule, connection details, plan notes, calculations, wind and site data | Are the post-to-header and post-to-foundation connectors named once, and do the calculations cover uplift where the site’s wind design requires it? |
| New footings and hold-downs | Foundation plan, footing details, calculations, soil or bearing basis in the notes | Do the calculations check the new footings and any hold-downs anchored into existing footings, with the bearing basis the notes state? |
| Shear walls that replace lost bracing | Shear wall plan and schedule, demolition plan, architectural plans | Where the removed wall braced the building, are the replacement shear walls shown on the demolition and architectural plans as well as the structural plan? |
| Demolition scope and temporary shoring | Demolition plan and notes, general notes on responsibility, structural notes | Does the demolition scope include every wall piece opened for sheathing, posts or hold-downs, and do the notes agree on who designs the temporary shoring? |
| Sill, threshold and flashing | Door details, architectural sections, green or energy forms, door maker’s installation instructions | Is the full sill length supported, the threshold height set and the head, jamb and sill flashing drawn, not just written as a note? |
| Energy and safety documents for the new opening | Energy compliance forms, door and glazing notes, safety glazing and pool barrier notes | Are the door’s thermal values, the energy forms, safety glazing and any pool or barrier requirement shown for the new opening? |
| Code references and design data | Cover sheet code list, structural general notes, design data block, calculations | Do every sheet and the calculations cite the code edition the building department enforces, with the design data its checklist asks for? |
Mark a row not applicable only after recording why. A narrow opening with a short header still needs its posts, connectors and bearing checked.
Check the header against the door, not just the code
A header that meets a general building-code deflection limit can still move too much for a large sliding, folding or multi-panel door. Door makers publish head clearances and deflection limits in their drawings and installation instructions. Find the deflection criterion in the calculations, compare the calculated movement with the gap the door drawing leaves at its head, and ask the engineer to state the criterion on the structural sheet.
In the same review, the calculation accepted a live-load deflection many times the clearance the door drawing left. The beam was also called flush in the notes and the calculation but drawn as a dropped beam in its roof detail, with the rafters bearing on top. That one choice moves the bottom of the beam, and the door head, by about a rafter depth.
Follow the load path down and sideways
The header’s reactions go into posts, connectors, footings and the existing foundation. Check that one connector is named at each post, that the calculations cover any new footings and any hold-downs anchored into old footings, and that uplift is designed where the site’s wind data call for it. A wall that came out may also have braced the building: check that the replacement shear walls appear on the demolition and architectural plans, not just the structural plan. In the review, the demolition note kept wall pieces that the structural plan sheathed as shear walls, so that work was likely left out of the bid.
Use the structural drawing review checklist for the rest of the structural sheets and the door schedule review checklist for the door itself.
Finish the permit sheets
Wall removal permits are often returned for paperwork rather than structure. Check that the energy compliance forms carry the new door’s thermal values, that safety glazing and any pool barrier or door alarm requirement are shown where the new door opens onto a pool area, that the sill, threshold and flashing are drawn rather than written as notes, and that the code references and design data match the edition the building department enforces. The IRC plan review guide covers the residential code side.
Where Groundbook fits
Groundbook compares the architectural and structural drawings, the calculations and the door maker’s drawing you upload, with any codes and checklists you supply as references, and returns potential conflicts with links to each source, such as a header called flush on one sheet and dropped on another. It does not size beams, check deflection or decide whether a design meets the code. Each finding is a question for the designer and the engineer of record. See pre-permit review for the workflow.