Installation Best Practices

Editor’s Note: The purpose of this article series is to identify truss-related structural issues sometimes missed due to the day-in and day-out demands of truss design/production and the fragmented building design review and approval process. This series will explore issues in the building market that are not normally focused upon, and provide recommended best-practice guidance.

  • Today’s complex truss designs can present significant installation challenges to framers if there isn’t good communication between the framer and the manufacturer.
  • From storage and lifting pick points to critical bearing conditions, safe handling and installation practices need to be effectively communicated to installers.
  • During the design phase, manufacturers can help ensure smooth installation by considering the framing challenges a complex design may create and facilitate cross communication between parties.
  • There are many published installation guides available for product-specific applications, but few account for framing tolerances when dissimilar materials are integrated into the overall building and the expectations for overall performance.
  • NFC’s Standards Development Sub-committee will begin outlining framing practices performed everyday where tolerances and known good performance have not been detailed in depth.
  • The subcommittee will take a “through the eyes of a framer” point of view and provide step-by-step implementation guidelines and options.
Woodhaven designed and built the roof and floor trusses for the Spruce Street Shul. Woodhaven also supplied the lumber and hardware for the project.

The purpose of this article series is to identify truss-related structural issues sometimes missed due to the day-in and day-out demands of truss design/production and the fragmented building design review and approval process. This series will explore issues in the building market that are not normally focused upon, and provide recommended best-practice guidance.

  • The whole premise of NFC is to help the framing industry grow and develop through best practice-based standards.
  • Having a more standardized approach to framing will make the whole building construction process easier.
  • I believe every component manufacturer should get involved in NFC, become a member of this fledgling organization, and help support its mission and objectives.
  • By approaching engineering and testing through the eyes of framers, NFC can make the framing process more reliable and cost effective.
  • SBCRI is fully capable of testing any type of full-scale assembly, which can provide framing contractors great insight into the performance of the products they use on a daily basis.
  • Testing raw materials, products and structural systems will ensure that framers understand real performance and derive maximum value from the product or engineered solution.
  • The National Framers Council (NFC) was formed as a council of SBCA to give framers a national organization that will focus on best practices in jobsite safety and building material installation.
  • NFC’s goal is for each framer to leave the jobsite every day in the same health as when they arrived.
  • The more framers and CMs interact, the more we will be able to identify framing and component implementation issues in the field and find solutions where both industries win.