IBC Sections 1607.9 (floors) and 1607.11 (roofs) allow live loads set forth in IBC Table 1607.

1 to
be reduced. Live loads are permitted to be reduced because, for the most part, the likelihood that
the entirety of a given floor or roof area will be fully loaded with the design live loads is low. There
are many rules set forth in the code for when, and by how much, live loads may be reduced. See
the table below to clearly understand these rules and why they are necessary.

Reduction of Roof
Reduction of Floor Live Loads
Live Loads
Rule Section 1607.9.1 Section 1607.9.2 Section 1607.11.2 Reason
Based on Influence (ALTERNATE) Based Based on
Area on Tributary Area Tributary Area
(KLL)(AT) needs to Tributary area A For flat roofs, AT A minimum area is
be greater than 400 needs to be greater needs to be necessary before it
square feet. than 150 square feet. greater than 200 can be assumed that
1
square feet. an entire area will not
be fully loaded with the
design live loads.
Reduction cannot Reduction cannot 20 psf of roof live This ensures that a
exceed 50 percent exceed 40 percent or load may not be horizontal structural
for elements that 23.1 (1 + D/L0) reduced to less member, such as a
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support loads of a percent for horizontal than 12 psf. beam or a slab, will be
single floor. members. designed for a
minimum live load.
Reduction cannot be Reduction cannot 20 psf of roof live This ensures that a
more than 60 exceed 60 percent or load may not be vertical structural
percent for elements 23.1 (1 + D/L0) reduced to less member, such as a
3 that support loads of percent than 12 psf. column or wall, will be
two or more floors. designed for a
for vertical minimum live load.
members.
AT for one-way Tributary area A for No rule This takes into account
slabs, for use in one-way slabs, for use the lower redundancy
reduction in reduction of (possibility of load
calculation, cannot calculation, cannot redistribution in) one-
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exceed the slab exceed the slab span way slabs compared to
span times a width times 0.5 times the two-way slabs.
of 1.5 times the slab slab span.
span.
Live loads greater than 100 psf cannot be reduced, except that In storage-type
live loads for members supporting two or more floors may be applications with
reduced by as much as 20 percent (plus one more exception). heavier live loads,
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several adjacent floor
panels may be fully
loaded.
Live loads in passenger vehicle garages cannot be reduced, Passenger vehicle
6 except that live loads for members supporting two or more floors garage decks often are
may be reduced by as much as 20 percent. fully loaded.
Live loads of 100 Live loads cannot be Live loads of 100 Because of large
psf, or on areas reduced in Group A psf or more on concentrations of
where fixed seats occupancies. areas of roofs people in Group A
7 are located, cannot classified as occupancies, it is likely
be reduced in Group Group A that the entire area
A occupancies. occupancies shall under consideration
not be reduced. will be fully loaded.
There are changes in the live load reduction provisions between the 2006 IBC and the 2009 IBC,
the most significant of which can be summarized as follows:

Table 1607.9.1 Live load element factor, KLL — the live load reduction provisions are revised to
align with similar provisions in ASCE 7-05 Section 4.8. “One-way slabs” is added to IBC Table
1607.9.1 to make it consistent with Table 4-2 of ASCE 7-05. In the 2006 IBC, Section 1607.9.1.4
prohibited live load reduction on one-way slabs, except for certain heavy live load scenarios. The
2009 IBC permits the reduction of live loads on one-way slabs using Equation 16-24 with
a KLL value of 1. However, new 2009 IBC Section 1607.9.1.1 imposes a restriction on the value of
the tributary area, AT, of a one-way slab that can be used in Equation 16-24. The restriction is the
same as that found in ASCE 7-05 Section 4.8.5.

Section 1607.9.1.4 Group A Occupancies — 2009 IBC Section 1607.9.1.4 now refers to Group
A occupancies instead of assembly occupancies, as was done in 2006 IBC Section 1607.9.1.3,
in order to clearly define the scope of the provision. Because there are public assembly uses with
occupant loads less than 50 and categorized as Group B that do not warrant the prohibition,
specifying Group A occupancy unambiguously applies the provision only where it is applicable.
The scope of this provision now is restricted even further by applying it to live loads of 100
pounds per square foot (psf) only, instead of the 2006 IBC requirement of 100 psf or less. The
only exception to this is an area where fixed seats are located. Even though the live load for fixed
seats in an assembly area is 60 psf (Item 4 in Table 1607.1), it was judged that the areas with
fixed seats also warrant this prohibition.

Section 1607.9.2 Alternate floor live load reductions — a new exception is added to make the
alternate floor live load reduction applicable to live loads exceeding 100 psf where the usage is
not storage and a registered design professional approves such a reduction through a rational
approach. This revision makes Section 1607.9.2 consistent with Section 1607.9.1.2 (2006 IBC
Section 1607.9.1.1).

Section 1607.11.2.1 Flat, pitched, and curved roofs — awnings and canopies other than those
of fabric construction supported by a lightweight rigid skeleton structure are now specifically
included within the scope of live load reduction provision of this section. The language in Item 29
in Table 1607.1 implies that reduction is permitted for these kinds of roofs, but no clear indication
was given in the 2006 IBC regarding how to carry out the reduction. It has always been the intent
of the code to apply the provisions of Section 1607.11.2.1 to the above mentioned roof category.
However, since “awnings and canopies” are distinctly separate from “ordinary flat, pitched, and
curved roofs” in Item 29 of Table 1607.1, this intent was not automatically conveyed. This
oversight now is fixed.

A change in the language also clearly specifies that greenhouses are just one example of the
type of structures that use special scaffolding for maintenance and repair purposes. Thus, the
requirement of using a minimum live load of 12 psf is not specific to greenhouses, but to all such
structures.