Essential Tables and Graphs for Wood Design Problems on the SE Exam

When it comes to wood design questions on the SE exam, knowing exactly where key tables and graphs are located in the codebooks can save precious time. While it may be tempting to rely on the search function, manually navigating to frequently used sections is usually faster—and not every relevant topic is easily searchable or tabbed.

To work efficiently under exam conditions, you should be familiar with the layout of all wood-related codes and know how to extract the required design values quickly.

The Three Wood Design References

Wood design problems on the exam draw from three primary documents:

1. NDS – National Design Specification for Wood Construction
2. NDS Supplement – Design Values for Wood Construction
3. SDPWS – Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic

Each reference contains specific tables, equations, and adjustment factors essential for different types of wood design tasks.

1. Member Design

(Finding adjusted design values for wood members)

When determining adjusted design values for sawn lumber or glulam members, you will rely on the following:

• NDS:
  • Equations for adjusted design values
    • Sawn lumber → Table 4.3.1
    • Glued-laminated timber → Table 5.3.1
  • Adjustment factors found in Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5
• NDS Supplement:
  • Reference design values (Chapter 4)
  • Nominal & minimum dressed sizes of sawn lumber → Table 1A
  • Section properties of sawn lumber → Table 1B
  • Section properties of glulam → Tables 1C and 1D

2. Connection Design

(Adjusted design values for fasteners and connections)

For dowel-type fasteners and other connection elements, you will need:

• NDS:
  • Equations for adjusted design values→ Table 11.3.1
  • Adjustment factors in Chapters 11 and 12
  • Reference design values→ Chapter 12
  • Species-specific gravity values→ Table 12.3.3A

3. Diaphragm and Shear Wall Design

(Nominal unit shear capacities and aspect ratio limits)

For diaphragm and shear wall problems, most of the required information comes from SDPWS:

• SDPWS:
  • Maximum diaphragm aspect ratio → Table 4.2.4
  • Nominal diaphragm unit shear capacities → Tables 4.2A–4.2D
  • Maximum shear wall aspect ratio → Table 4.3.4
  • Nominal shear wall unit shear capacities → Tables 4.3A–4.3D
  • Unblocked shear wall adjustment factor → Table 4.3.3.2
  • Shear capacity adjustment factor → Table 4.3.3.5
• NDS:
  • Species-specific gravity values (again) → Table 12.3.3A

Final Thoughts

Success in the SE wood design problems depends heavily on your ability to quickly locate and extract data from the NDS, NDS Supplement, and SDPWS. Familiarity with these tables not only improves speed but also reduces mistakes—two major advantages on exam day.