While wandering around Home Depot, I noticed that Simpson has many products used to secure parts of buildings together. On your house plans, are any of these products essential, others optional, and others simply to be avoided?
Thanks,
mt
p.s. I am familiar with using their hold downs to tie a foundation to wall on a garage (stab bolts).
Generally, the local building codes will determine some of the requirements for those products.
In hurricane and earthquake zones, they're mandated to hold on the roof or to keep the building on it's foundation.
Otherwise, where not required by local building codes, they just might be good common sense. ;)