Loads on buildings

For designing a safe and economical structure, it is necessary to ascertain with a fair degree of accuracy the various types of loads which are likely to act on the structure. The basic design loads to be assumed in the design of buildings as per IS 875-1964. The imposed loads including wind loads which are specified below are minimum working loads which should be taken into consideration for purpose of design. In the IS 875-1964 incidental loads during constructions and special cases of vibration such as moving machinery, heavy acceleration from cranes hoists and the like, have not been taken into consideration.

Now you can see the various types of loads explained as given below which may help you.

Dead load:

The dead load in a building shall comprise the weight of all walls, partitions, floors and roofs and shall include the weight of all other permanent constructions in the building. Loads due to partitions shall be assessed on the basis of the actual constructional details of the proposed partitions and their positioning in accordance with plans, and the loads thus assessed shall be include, in the dead load for the design of the floors and supporting structures. Where, however, the actual loads of the partitions cannot be assessed before hand, owing to lack of knowledge of the final positioning of the partitions, the floors and the supporting structures shall be designed to carry, in addition to other loads, a uniformly distributed load per square meter of not less than 33.33% of the weight per meter run of finished partitions over the entire floor area subjected to a minimum uniformly distributed load of 100 kg/sq.m in the case of floors used for office purposes.

No partition should be allowed to be erected which may effect, and, result in stresses greater than those allowed for, in the design as stated in the above paragraph.

Live load:

Live loads on floors of various types of buildings. Live loads on floors shall comprise all loads other than dead loads. While selecting a particular loading, consideration should be given to the possible change in occupancy and, consequently, in the purpose for which the floor may be used.