I am an engineer with a client that wants a new two-story single-family residence with an "old-style" second floor consisting of 2 x 12 T & G laid flat-wise over 4 X 12s at 24" o. c. My predicament is finding design load for lateral analysis of this floor system. My client is a contractor that does not want to sandwich plywood sheathing inside of decorative materials - he wants the real deal old style construction.

I have found myself faced with code design values listed in obscure places: like City of Los Angeles Division 88 and the 2001 California State Historical Building Code. Since I am not dealing with an existing condition, it would be quite "dicey" trying to convince the plan checker that values listed in such places are "OK" for new construction.

Speaking with a high-level offical in the State of California who knows the State Historical Building Code, I have been assured that an Architect by the name of John Keriotis (I did a phonetic spelling of a greek name, forgive me) has had tests done on the floor system my client has in mind. He then wished me luck in finding documentation of this specific test.

He has suggested looking in the 1997 Uniform Code for Building Conservation, Table A-1-E, and the ICBO Guidelines for Seismic Retrofit of Existing Buildings.

If any of you guys think you can lend a hand on finding this information, I would appreciate your help.