Your odds of getting the builder or that AHJ Inspector to admit that having collar ties are the better building practice are pretty slim. The facts are that no matter how stupid and backward we are here in Texas, the AHJ makes the final call. I assume, and all others should have, that you are an intelligent adult and would use your own words to convey your message. The issue, as I understand it, is that you have to be able to say something meaningful to your Client. The issue is not if AHJ's or anybody else is always right. Some builders and AHJ are slow to catch on to improvements in building codes, this is readily evident by the fact that Texas still uses the 2000 International Codes while the International Codes have gone through the 2003 changes, the 2006 changes, and are undergoing changes for 2009 - yet here we are, Texans, stuck with a code which now is nearly a decade old in the making. I would stick to my guns and say that good building and engineering practice dictates the use of collar ties, as evidenced by their inclusion in the newer building code, such as (blah, blah, blah). I should have said, for additional protection against windlift and separation, you may benefit from installing collar ties in the upper one third of the rafter pairs."You are saying that AHJ never miss things and/or make bad calls or use poor judgment? The AHJ has approved the rough framing and the final framing. You may be able to save face with your Client (forgive me if I am presuming anything here) by saying something along the lines of "I have misspoken. It happened to me just two weeks ago concerning poorly designed and unsafe deck and dock construction that the builder wouldn't correct because there was no code to cover it. I should have said, for additional protection against windlift and separation, you may benefit from installing collar ties in the upper one third of the rafter pairs." Then you can say that they are or are not needed. Then you have to compare what you know to the tables. In the case of stating that something needs collar ties, you'll have to identify the slope, the rafter wood type and grade, identify how it is nailed to the top plate, whether or not the rafter are parallel to or in line with the joists, whether purlins are present, where the purlins suppoert the rafters. You can't just take part of the code and make it fit. Go back and read your 2006 again before the next job. As the house is already complete, gathering that information may be most difficult. You have to have more information than you have given to determine if your argument is defensible.
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