What happens if load transfer is not considered properly in a roofing system design?

• A. All Components Will Share Uplift Equally Without Issue.
• B. Uplift Applies Only To Roof Deck.
• C. There Will Be No Impact On System Performance.
• D. Problems Can Transfer Load To Other Components.

Answer: (D)

When wind uplift loads aren’t accounted for in how load moves through a roofing system, the key idea is the importance of a continuous load path. Uplift doesn’t stay put on a single component; it travels through fasteners, into the roof deck, through edge details, flashing, and attachments, and can transfer from one element to another if the connections aren’t designed for proper load transfer. If you miss how these paths interact, a failure in one part can push additional load onto adjacent parts, causing a chain reaction that leads to fastener pull-out, seam or flashing failures, membrane lift, or deck damage. That’s why the correct answer says that problems can transfer load to other components—the system’s resilience depends on how well every part shares and resists the uplift together. The idea that uplift would affect only the deck, or that all components share uplift equally with no issue, or that there’s no impact at all, doesn’t fit real-world behavior, where different materials and connections have different capacities and must be coordinated as a single system.