I am building a house and the preselected plans have a screened porch. I want the porch to remain open. Framing has not started just the slab at this point. I'm being told this cannot be changed because it's a structural change. Is this correct?
Your question is not totally clear however it sounds like you're wanting to modify the porch to eliminate the studs which would frame the screens? If this is correct in so doing you're altering the loading from a wall to point loading (in the corners) and your contractor would be correct.
Note that whenever framing members exceed 24" o/c the structure (both framing & foundation if it's a slab) requires engineering as it's outside the scope of Part 9 of the Code.
Without seeing the plans, it's hard to tell. But if it's a screened enclosure, the screen panels are not structural. If I could see the plans, I would be able to tell.
Marko Furlani
Urbanest Construction
Any changes could happen as long as you have updates to confirm the changes that should be signed and stamped by a professional engineer so city would be able to accept these changes.
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