Type H Connectors Are Not Required in:

  • The California Existing Building Code – This was written by SEAOSC engineers based on observed earthquake damage.

  •  Standard Plan A

  • Los Angeles Plan Set 1

  • Simpson Strong-Tie Plan Set

  • City of Seattle Guidelines

  • Portland Guidelines

  • New Construction

A Table in the Seismic Retrofit Plan Set for ICC 1300 contains the Type H Connector and is in the center of the 3 tables. It lists the capacity of the Type H Connector made by KC Metals at 275#.  KC Metals is a company that no longer exists.

The Connector Table on the right is found on page 4-15 of in the complete guideline FEMA P-1100 Standard Vulnerability Based Seismic Assessment and Retrofit of One and Two-Story Dwellings.  This Table lists the capacity of the Type H hardware at on the table on the right at 725#.  It is listed at 275# in the Plan Set Table and 220# on PAGE 5-16 ICC 1300

The Table on the left is found on page 5-16 of the same document. It lists the Type H Connector capacity at 220#.  We have three different tables that assign 3 separate capacities to the same connector.  Not that it matters much, this hardware serves no useful purpose anyway.

PAGE 5-16 FEMA P-1100.

SHEET S3 IN THE PLAN SET.

PAGE 4-15 FEMA P-1100.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone told me the Type H Connector is being installed to keep the floor joists from sliding 4 inches off of the sill.  There is no recorded instance of this happened based on observed post-earthquake damage.

I was told this was in anticipation of deflection in the first-floor diaphragm in a manner similar to hillside homes.  Please see the figure below.  This possible failure point is peculiar to hillside homes and does not occur in homes with cripple walls.

The floors of these older homes are invariably made of diagonal Douglas Fir boards with finished oak wood flooring, which is quite stiff and will certainly resist this bending.  According to the California Existing Building Code, these floors have a shear capacity of 1800plf which is also a measure of stiffness.  In other words, this concern might be unfounded and should be backed by empirical evidence.