Sawn Lumber Grade Marks and Alternatives to Grade Marks

A grade mark is the most common way of identifying important structural properties and quality of sawn lumber in accordance with US DOC PS 20 American Lumber Standard.

Occasionally, state legislation is proposed that would create an exception to grading and grade marking of sawn lumber, allowing the use of locally-sourced, sawn lumber in residential construction or an associated accessory structure. The law seldom goes into detail on how the lumber grade is to be assigned or how to ensure that the material is locally-sourced, leaving it to the building official to deal with the challenges of permitting use of unmarked lumber of potentially unknown origin to meet intent of the code in terms of quality and safety.

Often, the laws are unnecessary, since the International Residential Code (IRC) has provisions for use of sawn lumber that has no grade mark. Section R502.1.1 of the 2021 IRC allows the use of a certificate of inspection issued by a recognized lumber grading or inspection agency in lieu of a grade mark:

“R502.1.1 Sawn lumber. Sawn lumber shall be identified by a grade mark of an accredited lumber grading or inspection agency and have design values certified by an accreditation body that complies with DOC PS 20. In lieu of a grade mark, a certificate of inspection issued by a lumber grading or inspection agency meeting the requirements of this section shall be accepted.”

Identification of sawn lumber conformance to requirements of US DOC PS 20 American Lumber Standard, either by grade mark on each individual piece or through a certificate of inspection, is fundamental to safe use in accordance with the code. Without knowing the grade of sawn lumber, the IRC prescriptive designs, including the span tables based on structural properties of graded sawn lumber, cannot be used and engineered designs cannot be performed due to lack of design values.

The American Lumber Standards Committee (www.alsc.org) has contact information of recognized lumber grading and inspection agencies throughout the country. These agencies can help identify local grading services that are able to issue a certificate of inspection for sawn lumber that is not grade marked.

2024 CCICC ABM Exhibitor Registration

Colorado Chapter ICC

Annual Business Meeting

Exhibitor Registration is Open!

Join us at the Beautiful Broadmoor Resort on December 12 & 13, 2024!

Be front and center by the registration desk with a booth space in the ~~Judy Bell Foyer for $875.00~~ (SOLD OUT) or get the attendees attention in the Finsterwald Room for $675.00 (one space left) where the Breakfast and Beverages will be served daily!

Both booth spaces include breakfast, lunch and classes for two people. Don't delay these spaces sell out every year!

Questions or having trouble getting registered?

Call or email Janine Snyder at

970-485-5278 or [email protected]

Important Request to local Building Departments

The Division of Housing's Building Codes & Standards Section which regulates modular construction state-wide is making an urgent request for your consideration. Please review the first attachment for specific details. During this unprecedented time, we ask for your assistance in helping move forward modular construction projects occurring in your jurisdiction in order to help house Coloradans faster.

We have created some flexibility in our process as we work to address our staffing shortage (please see second and third attachments). We ask you to accept this temporary alternative process to help address Colorado's housing crisis by allowing the site work for modular construction to also begin with a third-party plan review approval in place as we work to review and approve all modular construction plans and get our approved set of plans out to ensure safety and code compliance.

Thank you for your consideration and please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

Maulid Miskell

Deputy Division Director

Third Party Plan Review Memo

Third Party Plan Review Memo clarification

Memo Local Acceptance of TPA plans

Energy Code Board October 29 , 2024 11am-1pm

The Energy Code Board will meet, October 29, 2024, from 11am-1pm MT. The Board will have a final discussion regarding home size and how to apply energy code requirements based on home size, and will also be discussing updates to the residential portions of the Colorado Model Electric Ready and Solar Ready Code. An agenda for the meeting is attached.

Members of the public interested in attending the meeting can register via Zoom or view the livestream of the meeting on CEO's Youtube page. As always, a full schedule of the Energy Code Board's meetings can be found here.

Agenda

Meetings Schedule