Snow Loads may be assigned over the whole floor or in sections of the floor. The Add option is used to create a polygon which defines the boundary of the snow load assignment. This is done by clicking on SnapTo points and/or using the Keyboard Mode Coordinate Entry command to explicitly enter the coordinates (see Keyboard Mode Coordinate Entry ) to define the vertices of the load polygon. Multiple load polygons can be defined. Snow loads can be assigned beyond the slab edge boundary; the program will automatically "clip" the load assignment so that it is bordered by the slab edge. If a snow load fails to cover the slab edge boundary, no load will be assigned to that area.

The Whole Floor option assigns the snow load to the entire floor. It does this by creating new points 5 ft. (1.52 m) beyond the floor dimensions in each direction, and laying down a rectangular polygon. This ensures that the whole floor and slab edges are covered with a snow load polygon (unless the slab edge distance is greater than 5 ft). Note that the Whole Floor option is only available when a Constant snow load property is selected.

Drift loads have three Magnitudes associated with them. When a Drift load polygon is laid down, the user is then prompted to associate each of the Magnitude values with a vertex of the polygon. As each Magnitude is assigned to a vertex, that vertex is labeled graphically on the screen. If an error is made in the assignment, it can either be corrected immediately in that dialog, or at any time by using the Layout – Loads – Snow Loads – Change – Change Control Points command.

After a Snow load polygon has been laid down, the snow load polygon can be modified using the Change Polygon command by clicking on a vertex and dragging that vertex to a new location. A new vertex can be created by clicking on the middle of the polygon edge, and then dragging that new vertex to the desired location. Two adjacent vertices can be combined merely by dragging one vertex over the other.

When one snow load assignment is laid over another, the last assignment made takes precedence; overlapping snow loads are not cumulative.

In some cases it may be necessary to change the order, or Priority, of these polygons, moving them up or down. This can be done using the Change Priority command. When invoked it displays a list of all of the surface load polygons on that layout type. Selecting a polygon from that list causes the polygon to be highlighted in plan. The Up and Down arrows can be used to move that polygon up or down in priority. This command is useful, for example, if a polygon is completely covered by other polygons and is no longer necessary; it can be moved up the list and then deleted.

Areas that have snow load assignments are depicted by a hatched pattern while in Snow Load Assign Mode. Toggling the Snow Loads option of the Miscellaneous tab of the Options - Set Show Options command will show all snow loads currently assigned to the floor. Snow Load Assignments may be inspected using the Show option or modified using the Change option. The slab edge boundary should be input before snow loads are assigned. If the slab boundary is not completely defined, the Modeler will not display the snow loads. The Data Check can be used to obtain a report that lists any breaks in the slab edge and where those breaks are located.

The Show Same command lists all of the Snow loads. When one is selected from the list, all occurrences of that load type are highlighted in the plan. This provides a quick way of verifying that the correct loads have been assigned in each location.

Snow load polygons may be laid down in any configuration desired. It is not necessary to lay down the polygon sides so that they fall directly on beams; they can be laid down cutting through bays. The program will distribute the snow loads to supporting members accordingly.

Snow loads that are assigned in areas that have no slab/deck will be ignored by the program.

While both Roof Live Loads and Snow Loads can be modeled within the same model, there is a limitation in the program such that it can only recognize either Roof Live Loads or Snow Loads in the analysis and design, it cannot recognize both simultaneously. The option of which to consider can be found in RAM Manager in the Criteria - Live Load Reduction dialog. See the design manuals for more information on snow load distribution.