Designing commercial low-slope roofing to resist the forces imposed by wind is critical to the roof’s longevity. This is especially true in regions frequently impacted by high wind weather events.
The building code lays out the requirements for roof wind design. The short-and-simple version is this:
- The designer identifies the loads expected to be imposed by the wind (e.g. pounds per square foot).
- The manufacturer tests assemblies made of its products to determine their capacity to resist applied loads.
- The contractor installs an assembly of products that has been tested (by the manufacturer) and demonstrated to be strong enough to resist the imposed loads.