Snow Issues and Roofs: Useful Information Guide
Roof Online Staff


Related Pages
Useful Links for Information on Roofs and Snow Issues
1. General: “Prevent Roof Damage from Heavy Snow and Ice” is a brief overview article produced by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety.
2. General: “Snow Load Safety Guide” is a useful and fairly detailed article produced by FEMA as a part of their Risk Management Series.
3. General: The Building Failures Forum is a great source of information. See their page “Snow Load Code Development and Building Failures and Investigations“.
4. Codes: See “Section 1608 Snow Loads“ in the 2018 International Building Code for snow-load-related design considerations. Available on the UpCodes website.
5. Technical: To find the ground snow load for a specific location, see the Hazards by Location page at the website of the Applied Technology Council.
6. Technical: Design: “Building Design Considerations In Cold Climates” from the Whole Building Design Guide is definitely worth a look.
7. Technical: Design: “Minimizing the Adverse Effects of Snow and Ice on Roofs” is a design-oriented article from 2001 available at the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center website. It’s not overly technical and provides a good overview of snow and ice issues.
8. Technical: ”Snow-Induced Roof Failures and Prevention Methods” by Alyssa Stangl is an easy-to-follow technical discussion of the subject. The paper is from from 2013 and is also available on the Building Failures Forum site.