Designing in Wood? The 2025 CRC Runs on NDS-2024

Here's the thing about a wood-design calc package: the math can be flawless and still fail plan check if it pulls reference values from the wrong edition of the NDS. The National Design Specification for Wood Construction comes in editions, and only one carries legal force in California at a time. The 2025 California Residential Code names that edition — and the January 2026 errata put a change bar on it so you don't miss it.

What the errata flagged

The errata to the 2025 CRC marked the wood-design reference in Chapter 44 (Referenced Standards) with a change bar. The entry reads, in full:

ANSI/AWC NDS—2024: National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction — with 2024 NDS Supplement.

That second half matters. The reference isn't just the 2024 NDS — it's the 2024 NDS paired with its 2024 Supplement, the volume that carries the reference design values (Fb, Fv, E, and the rest) for each species and grade. Cite the standard but read values out of an older supplement and you've defeated the purpose.

Verified against the live CRC Chapter 44 text on ICC Digital Codes — the AWC entry reads "ANSI/AWC NDS—2024 … with 2024 NDS Supplement," on the page stamped "with January 2026 Errata."

Why one reference line reaches everywhere

Open the structural chapters of the CRC and you'll notice the body sections rarely name a year. They just say "AWC NDS." Chapter 44 is where that bare name becomes a dated, enforceable standard. So this single change-barred line is the pin that holds the wood-frame backbone together:

• R404.2.2 (foundation-wall stud size). A 2×6 stud at 16 inches on center needs a species with an Fb of not less than 1,250 psi "as listed in ANSI AWC NDS"; at 12 inches on center, 875 psi. Those Fb values live in the NDS Supplement tables.
• R502.2 (floor framing). Floors are designed per the chapter "or in accordance with ANSI AWC NDS."
• R507.2.1 (deck wood materials). Where a deck is designed under R301, wood members are sized "using the wet service factor defined in AWC NDS" — the wet-use adjustment that decks live and die by.
• R602.3 (wall framing). Exterior wood-frame walls are built per the chapter "or in accordance with AWC NDS."
• R608.9.2 (concrete wall to wood floor). The engineered-design path runs through "ASCE 7, ACI 318, and AWC NDS for wood-framed construction."
• R802.2 (roof framing). The roof-ceiling assembly is designed per the chapter "or in accordance with AWC NDS."

Chapter 44 lists the rest in the same breath — Table R503.1, R608.9.3, and Tables R703.15.1 and R703.15.2. Ten code references, one edition year. (Want the wider standards picture? There's a companion piece on the referenced-standards chapters.)

The plan-check stumble

Here's the practical point: a general-notes sheet or calc header that names an older or undated edition of the NDS is naming the wrong book. The reference design values, the connection provisions, the adjustment factors — the controlling edition is NDS-2024 with the 2024 Supplement. Chapter 44 pins that dated edition deliberately: reference values traced to an out-of-date supplement are values the current code no longer points to.

It's also one of the easiest corrections to avoid. Check three things before you submit: the NDS year in your general notes, the edition your software is set to, and the supplement your design values trace back to. If any of them names an edition older than 2024, fix it before a reviewer does.

If a local amendment in your jurisdiction modifies a wood-design provision, confirm the edition with that building department — but the state baseline is settled: NDS-2024, with the 2024 Supplement.

What CrossBeam does with it

CrossBeam tracks which edition of each referenced standard California actually enforces, so a wood-design question returns NDS-2024 — the year Chapter 44 pins — not just the bare standard name. Ask which NDS a given CRC section runs on, and the answer reflects the current errata instead of last cycle's.