Bend · Redmond · Sisters · La Pine · Klamath Falls · east of the Cascades
Snow load on Central and Eastern Oregon roofs
Snow load on Central and Eastern Oregon roofs in Oregon: what it is, why it matters here, how it shows up in a report, and what it means for a transaction.
Why this sits outside a standard inspection
OAR 812-008-0203 makes an Oregon home inspection visual and not technically exhaustive. OAR 812-008-0204 excludes underground items, items not permanently installed, and the determination of environmental hazards.
That is adopted rule, not custom. It is the reason this finding needs a specialist rather than a generalist, and the reason the only existing coverage tends to be written by the companies selling the remediation.
Inspections undertaken in accordance with division 8 are visual and are not technically exhaustive.
OAR 812-008-0203(1)
Bend · Redmond · Sisters · La Pine · Klamath Falls · east of the Cascades
Snow load on Central and Eastern Oregon roofs
Verified fields
Governing code
- residential
- 2023 Oregon Residential Specialty Code. Chapter 1 effective 2023-10-01; Chapters 2 to 44 effective 2023-10-01 and mandatory 2024-04-01. Still current.
- nonprescriptive trigger
- Ground snow load above 70 psf forces nonprescriptive design under R301.2.3.
Residential commercial divergence
- finding
- Residential and commercial are on different codes right now and they diverge on snow. Mixing them is the specific error the state warns about.
- residential
- 2023 ORSC still uses the legacy SEAO map and RETAINS Oregon's minimum roof snow load.
- units warning
- Commercial ground snow loads are now ultimate or strength-level values, not ASD. They are NOT comparable to older numbers or to residential figures.
Klamath county
- analysis
- The 20 psf is the OSSC commercial design roof minimum, not the residential ground minimum. The live page collapses the distinction the PDF keeps.
- resolution
- The PDF is the more code-accurate document.
0
- trap
- Redmond, WASHINGTON design criteria sheet
- how it was caught
- Its 12 inch frost depth contradicts Deschutes County's 18 inches.
1
- trap
- A 'Klamath Falls' design criteria PDF stating Ground Snow Load Zero
- detail
- The document is actually City of Roseville, CALIFORNIA, on the 2019 California Building Standards Code.
Design criteria hub RESOLVED
- status
- RESOLVED 2026-08-07. This was the single largest open item in the project.
- problem
- The Oregon Design Criteria Hub is a Geocortex JavaScript application that defeated four headless attempts. It was recorded as needing a real browser.
- service url
- https://services1.arcgis.com/CD5mKowwN6nIaqd8/arcgis/rest/services/project_designcriteria_or_ground_snow_load_adjustment_regions_2023/FeatureServer/2
- agol item
- https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=65df76370a9b4ab9963686613f8a3e5a
- returns
- SnowLoad_Regions, the named snow load region, and GroundSnowAdjustmentLoads, the elevation adjustment factor in psf per foot.
Hub url decision
- question
- The Hub entry point redirects to a Geocortex application URL. Store the destination or the entry point?
- decision
- KEEP THE ENTRY POINT, tools.oregonexplorer.info/viewer/design_criteria_hub.
- decided
- 2026-08-08
Source pending