sheathing attachment to bottom and top plate

huangyhg

sheathing attachment to bottom and top plate
in a single family residetial application (100 mph wind zone), the standard assembly for a nominal 8' high wall is as follows:
component            height
single top plate     1-1/2"
pre-cut studs       92-5/8"
double top plate     3-0/0"
total                97-1/8"
sheathing with a dimension of 48" x 96" is then nailed to this wall assembly.  if the sheathing is then fastened to the bottom plate (say 1/8") off of the bottom, then the top of the sheet of osb (or plywood) will fall at a point of 96-1/8" above the floor, or 1" short of the top edge of the top member of the double top plate.
if nailing of the fastners to the double top plate is held off the edge of the sheathing by the minimum reccomended distance of 3/8", then the nailing will be a maximum of 95-3/4" off of the floor, or 1-3/8" below the top of the top member of the double top plate.  thus no nails are being placed into the top member of the double top plate.
with the industry standard pre-cut studs, the wall is designed to be built high enough that the ceiling drywall can be installed with the ability to place 96" of drywall (either two 48" boards in the horizontal plane, of one 96" board in the vertical plane)whle keeping the bottom of the drywall board off the floor aproximately 1/2" to keep it from getting wet when water is on the floor (mopping, etc.).
this has never been a problem, but a local inspector is now questioning the assembly.  i can't find anything that requires that the sheathing to run continuos from the bottom edge of the bottom plate member to the top of the upper most top plate member.  if so, we would need to lower the top of the wall, or place the sheathing horizontally, with a ripper piece in the center two feet of the wall, resulting in thre pieces of sheating in the vertical plane.
does anybody have information regarding this application?  what are you designing?
thank you in advance,
randy thompson
i never understood why pre-cut studs are 92-5/8", so thank you for the insight.  as long as the top ply of the double top plate is adequately nailed to the bottom ply of the double top plate, then you can just nail the sheathing to the bottom ply.  i would not be comfortable with the nails going into the seam between the two plies.
daveatkins
this is why the next standard length of plywood sheets is 9 ft.