While Option A would allow the brick mason to complete their work with the fewest delays, it would also jeopardize the safety of the occupants as it is structurally unsound.
"2012 IRC Section 507.9.1.1: “Deck ledgers shall not be supported on stone or masonry veneer.”
That includes lag bolts through the veneer to the structure.
I also agree with this. I chose option B for this reason, specifically.
Hi @gerald and @dronearchitect86 !
Thanks so much for your comments. Because the question is specifically asking what would allow the brick mason to complete their work in the fewest delays, answer A is correct. If we went with either option B or C, the brick masons work would be interrupted with the installation of the deck. Although the IRC states that deck ledgers shall not be supported on stone or masonry veneer, the detail shows that the lag bolts for the deck are actually being tied into the structure, they go through the masonry but aren’t necessarily supported by it. Thanks!
-Rebecca
Thanks for the response @coachrebeccasmith. While I believe the intent of the question was to test judgment about construction sequence, the detail is still wrong. Ask any engineer where the load on the lag bolts is in this example, and they will tell you that, despite it being tied into the structure, the load is on the brick, and the brick will fail. It is an incorrect detail that has siginificant structural implications, which is why the IRC wrote the code the way they did. We can only hope that NCARB’s questions writers would know enough not to put such an obvoiously wrong detail on the exam.
Hi @gerald !
Thanks for your feedback, I’m going to tag @coachchrishopstock so he can weigh in on the accuracy of the detail. Thanks again!
-Rebecca
Thanks @gerald and @coachrebeccasmith for bringing this to our attention - I agree that while option A is definitely the fastest way to build this condition, it’s not a code compliant design and therefore needs to be addressed. We’ll revise the question.