Do I have to consider Dead Load and Live Load partial safety factors in designing a timber joist?
Yes, you need to apply the different partial factors to get the design live load (1.0×1.6) and design dead load (1.0×1.4) which combine to give you a design load of 3kN. The process is just the same as in the design of steel beams. However, check the code you are using: some structural codes have different values for the partial factors for designing timber than for steel. The principle remains the same, just the numbers change.
