Temporary foundation wall bracing prior to floor framing construction

[Jc67roch]

Per the IRC R404.1.7 Backfill Placement
Backfill shall not be placed against the wall until the wall has sufficient strength and has been anchored to the floor above, or has been sufficiently braced to prevent damage by the backfill.
Exception: Bracing is not required for walls supporting less than 4 feet (1219 mm) of unbalanced backfill.

However, it doesn't state that this bracing should remain in place UNTIL the floor framing is installed. It is my interpretation that it should, as damage can occur due to frost jacking (lateral), construction equipment and materials adjacent to the wall, as well as the simple soil lateral loading. But I am seeing contractors removing this bracing as soon as backfilling is completed. Can anyone direct my to documentation providing my interpretation? OR am I incorrect, and it can be removed immediately after backfilling operations are completed?

 

[phamENG]

It's right there in the text. The second portion provides an exception to the first portion, so the contractor follows the second. Then they remove it. Well when they removed it they're back into the first portion, which says not to backfill until it's strong enough AND is attached to the floor above. It's not, so they can't have backfill.

It's not just the activity of filling that the code is worried about, it's the presence of the fill. Admittedly the activity of backfilling and compacting will produce a higher load than the static soil load, but the static soil load is still a concern.

In the picture you posted they probably got lucky since it looks to be a fairly small basement, and one of the walls seems to have some returns/tees...so you've got some counterfort action on that side and two way action in the wall on the others.

 

[le99]

I suggest using a "concrete strength gain curve" to estimate the compressive strength of the fresh concrete at the time of form removal and determine whether it is advisable to leave the diagonals in place to prevent premature concrete failure and excessive deflection (bowing) on top of the wall.

 

[XR250]

...not that those crappy embedded straps are going to do much to get the load into the diaphragm!
I cant imagine any contractor I know actually bracing a basement wall sufficiently to resist the back fill pressure. Luck and horizontal wall spanning are at play on most jobs I see.