INSTALLATION RESOURCES
HOW A HOUSE IS DEVELOPED TO RESIST UPLIFT AND SHEAR
If your structure or location does not allow the use of prescriptive methods, only a licensed professional designer, such as an architect or professional engineer, has the training and expertise to calculate uplift and shear-resistance requirements for a wood-framed home. Designing for these forces requires detailed calculations using variables such as wall height, wall length, roof slope, wind-speed, and local municipal building codes.
Norbord OSB panels are certified by the APA - The Engineered Wood Association
For wood framed structures the IRC requires that one of the following be used:
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Southern Building Code Congress International Standards for Hurricane Resistant Residential Construction (SSTD 10-99) or
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Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE-7)
Once uplift and shear values have been determined, the licensed professional designer will detail the method of transferring these forces, or loads, to the foundation, ensuring the home's integrity.
ENGINEERING RESOURCES & TESTING RESULTS
SSTD 10-99 – Chapter3 
H335 Report
The APA has published and excellent report H335 called the “Wood Structural Panel Sheathing or Siding, Used To Resist Combined Shear And Uplift”. This 8 page report takes the information and tables from several code documents and puts them into an easy, single report.
TN E510 Report
The APA has published a technical report showing details for floor-to-floor connections as well as raised floor and two-story applications.
NAHB Research Center Shear and Tensile Test
Click here for a PDF of the full NAHB report.
We asked the NAHB Research Center to conduct full-scale performance testing of walls sheathed with Windstorm OSB panels. The results for uplift tests showed a safety factor of 3.9, while the shear wall test results showed excellent agreement with published values and were consistent with SSTD 10-99.
