Shear strength is considered at horizontal and vertical section cuts using the provisions for beams given in 11.5.3, 11.5.4 and 11.5.5.

Vertical section cuts intersect only one wall and will therefore have rectangular cross-sections. Hence, application of these clauses is straightforward.

Horizontal section cuts can have more complex cross-sections since they may intersect multiple walls in the wall design group. The method described below has been used to apply the code provision to a wall group composed of a number of walls oriented arbitrarily.