P
rofessional deck-builders and
DIY’ers alike should take
note of a few upcoming
changes to deck-building codes.
Representatives from NADRA
(North American Deck & Railing
Association) recently attended
the International Code Council
Committee Action Hearing for the
creation of the 2021 International
Residential Code and posted a
blog about the updates discussed
at the hearing. Here are the high-
lights in a nutshell, according to
Glenn Mathewson, MCP – NADRA
Technical Advisor.GUARD POSTS
RB 185 —The most collaborated
proposal was related to guard post
installation. The update prohibitsthe notching of 4×4 posts and
includes code language requiring
a post to be secured into the adja-
cent framing of the deck, not just
the single rim board. However, no
specific hardware was specified,
keeping the code generic and flexi-
ble. The proposal was approved.DECK FOUNDATIONS
RB 187 —According to NADRA,
this was a fairly simple proposal
to make better sense of various
deck foundation types, minimum
depths and frost-depth exceptions.
One clarification made was that
decks attached to non-frost-
protected structures, such as
detached garages or sheds, will
not have to themselves be frost
protected.SPOT LIGHT
12 ExtremeHowTo.comCode Changes are Coming
Deck Construction Update
Simpson Strong-Tie offers the
DTT2 Holdown metal bracket,
which help to fasten 4x4 guard
posts to both the deck’s rim
board and adjacent deck fram-
ing, meeting the proposed code
requirements.