Structure Creation¶

A structure is one building or one independent part of a building that gets its own set of design loads. A project can hold any number of structures, and each structure carries its own risk category and its own load modules. Every new project starts with one structure, named Structure 1.

Creating a New Structure¶

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to Project Summary in the sidebar
2. Select New Structure
3. Fill in the Structure Information dialog. The name and the risk category are required
4. Click Save Structure

The new structure appears in the sidebar below the existing ones.

Structure Information Fields¶

Building Risk Category¶

The risk category belongs to the structure, and every load module in the structure reads it from here. ASCE 7 Section 1.5.1 permits different risk categories for different load types. Prose applies one risk category to every module in a structure.

The risk category selects the basic wind speed map (Section 26.5.1), sets the seismic importance factor Ie (Table 1.5-2), and enters the seismic design category (Section 11.6). In ASCE 7-10 and 7-16 it also sets the snow importance factor Is (Table 1.5-2). In ASCE 7-22 there is no snow importance factor; the risk category selects the ground snow load pg (Section 7.2) and the minimum snow load limit (Table 7.3-4), and sets the rain design storm return period (Table 8.2-1).

The descriptions below follow ASCE 7 Table 1.5-1. The table does not list building types. The examples come from the ASCE 7 commentary (Section C1.5.1), and the adopted building code governs the classification.

Managing Existing Structures¶

Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to a structure name to open its menu:

• Edit Structure Info changes the name, description, address, risk category, engineers, and notes
• Duplicate Structure copies the structure with all of its load modules
• Delete Structure removes the structure and all of its load modules
• Dead, Live, Snow, Rain, Seismic, and Wind Load each add that load module to the structure

Editing a Structure¶

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the structure name
2. Select Edit Structure Info
3. Change the fields you need
4. Click Save Structure

Duplicating a Structure¶

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the structure name
2. Select Duplicate Structure

The copy appears in the sidebar with every load module and all of their inputs. Rename it with Edit Structure Info and change what differs. Duplicating is the fastest way to study a second roof, a different exposure, or an alternative seismic system without touching the original.

Deleting a Structure¶

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the structure name
2. Select Delete Structure
3. Click Delete [Structure Name] in the confirmation dialog

Adding Load Modules¶

1. Click the three-dot menu (⋮) next to the structure name
2. Select the load type to add: Dead Load, Live Load, Snow Load, Rain Load, Seismic Load, or Wind Load

The module is created with placeholder site data and opens at once. It appears under the structure in the sidebar, where its own three-dot menu deletes it again. Each structure holds one module of each type.

Every module page has the same layout: inputs on the left, a live summary on the right that updates as you type, and an Export PDF tab that builds the report for that module alone. A code reference sits under each input, and the summary carries the same references beside every value.

Next Steps¶