Low-Slope Roof
A roof that is pitched at an angle so near to horizontal that it must be made waterproof with a continuous membrane rather than shingles; commonly and inaccurately referred to as a flat roof.
Masonry
Brickwork, concrete block work, and stonework.
Municipality
A city, town, etc. having its own incorporated government for local affairs.
Non-Load Bearing Wall
A wall that does not carry vertical load other than its own weight.
Occupancy Group
A specification that indicates by whom or how the structure will be used.
Occupant Load
The number of persons for which the means of egress of a building or portion thereof is designed. (IBC)
Open Web Steel Joist
Open web, parallel chord, load-carrying members suitable for the direct support of floors and roof decks in buildings.
Pitched Roof
A sloping roof.
Ponding
The collecting of water, as on a roof, into large puddles or a pond.
Precast Concrete
Concrete cast and cured in a position other than its final position in the structure.
Reinforced Concrete
Concrete into which steel reinforcing bars have been embedded to impart tensile strength to the construction.
Shore
A prop for preventing sinking or sagging (noun). To support by a shore (transitive verb).
Single-Ply Membrane
A sheet of plastic, synthetic rubber, or modified bitumen used as a roofing sheet for a low-slope roof.
Slab-on-Grade
A concrete surface lying upon, and supported directly by, the ground beneath.
Span
The distance between supports for a beam, girder, truss, or other horizontal structural member; to carry a load between supports.
Spray Polyurethane Foam (SPF)
Polyurethane foam sprayed in place on a low-slope roof then covered with a protective coating.
Stability
A condition of a frame or structure in which a slight disturbance in the loads or geometry of the structure does not produce large displacements or failure.
Strength
The capacity of a structure to resist the effects of loads.
Structural Efficiency
Ratio of the maximum design load to the weight of the structure.
Tilt-up Construction
A method of constructing concrete walls in which panels are cast and cured flat on a floor slab then tilted up into their final position.
Underlayment
A panel laid over a sub-floor or subsurface to create a smooth, stiff surface for the application of a finish.
Welded Wire Fabric (WWF)
A grid of steel wires or bars welded together at all points of intersection to form an open mat. The fabric is designated by the size of the grid (spacing of the wires) in inches followed by numbers indicating the gauge of the wire in each direction.