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In stand-up comedy, timing is everything. Bringing an issue before Congress works much the same way. If you present your stance on an issue too early, lawmakers and their legislative assistants will look at you with confusion evident on their faces. If you present your views on an issue after they’ve already addressed it, you fail to engage them in a meaningful conversation. However, if you present a problem just as they are beginning to hear it from other sources as well, you can hook them just the way a good one-liner can.
So much has changed in just a few short years for component manufacturers supplying single and multi-family residential construction projects. It’s no surprise that the legal landscape we face while operating our businesses in this volatile market has changed as well. As you refocus to take advantage of opportunities as the housing market recovers, I encourage you to consider these legal trends.
- The strength axis of a structural panel is the direction parallel to the grain of the wood fiber in the face and back surfaces of the panel.
- The strength axis is usually the long dimension of the panel.
- The IBC provides two tables with the allowable spans and loads (psf) for wood structural panel sheathing installed continuous over two or more spans with their strength axis perpendicular and parallel to the supports.
We received a lot of positive feedback from readers about an article in the April issue regarding a component manufacturer’s product defect negligence lawsuit. While this is not the industry’s first escape from a negligence or breach of warranty finding as a result of proper risk management procedures, it’s a very timely lesson for us. As SBCA Legal Counsel Kent Pagel explains in Important Legal Trends for 2011, the building industry is in another litigious cycle. Many of you pointed to the moral of the story: That the value of providing SBCA Jobsite Packages with all component orders cannot be overstated.
- Lack of available credit for building projects is a major barrier to the homebuilding industry’s recovery.
- Congress is considering a measure to address this barrier in the Home Construction Lending Regulatory Improvement Act of 2011 (H.R. 1755).
- SBCA Legislative Conference attendees had the good fortune of being on Capitol Hill the same day the bill was being introduced.
Our Mission
The mission of SBC Magazine (SBC) is to inform those engaged in the structural building components industry, which includes the membership of the Structural Building Components Association (SBCA), in an effort to promote their common interests. Further, SBC strives to ensure growth, continuity and increased professionalism in this industry by staying abreast of leading-edge issues and serving as the industry's primary source of information.
Editorial Focus
The exclusive focus of SBC Magazine’s editorial content is on the products and issues of importance to manufacturers and distributors of structural building components. SBC’s scope includes information on regulatory action; handing, installing and bracing of products on the jobsite; raw materials; trends in building materials and building material distribution; building component research and testing; technical, engineering and design issues; building code news; economic forecasts; legislative activities; human interest; safety; risk management and contracts and industry best practices.
Article Submission Policy
The SBC Magazine editorial staff strives to maintain the magazine’s journalistic integrity. Because we want to provide objective industry articles to our readers, SBC does not publish submitted content that promotes a particular product, service, method, material, or business approach. This includes any submission that resembles editorial copy but is, in essence, advertising. The goal it is to provide science-based and appropriately referenced information, topical opinion points of view and key current industry specific articles to the broader structural building components industry and all those that are reading SBC.
Editorial Review Board Considerations:
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Has the topic been identified by our readers as an important topic?
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Does the article have applicability within the structural building components industry beyond a small and identifiable minority/subset of companies?
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Does the article contain enough valuable information to allow the reader to make a more insightful business decision within the realm of the structural components industry? (i.e., is there new and valuable “meat”?)
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Has the topic of the article been covered in recent articles?
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Does the article provide a balanced set of viewpoints regarding a key industry topic, method, material, or business approach?
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Are assertions made by the author properly sourced/cited?
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Is it clear to the reader how the author reached his/her conclusions (e.g., interviews, other publications, writer’s personal opinion)?
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Does the article avoid vague terms such as “many people think…” or “most would agree…”?
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Does the article allow the reader to thoroughly understand and assess the facts and draw conclusions or criticisms of the editorial content?
Article Submission Guidelines
Feature articles submitted to SBC Magazine should range from 800-1500 words. Articles should include visual aids such as graphs, pictures, figures or other pictorial representations of the text. We prefer electronically submitted articles in a PC-compatible format such as MS Word or PDF.
Please send articles to the Managing Editor. See above for editorial calendar and deadlines.
While we accept submissions from anyone who works with or has knowledge of structural building components, here are some specific areas to consider. Please note that any submissions become property of SBC Magazine.
Parting Shots
Turn to the inside back cover of SBC and you’ll see a section we call Parting Shots. Send us your industry-related photos, and we’ll consider them for print. Examples include interesting design projects, correct (or incorrect) jobsite practices, SBCA Chapter events and old photos that demonstrate historical industry events. All photo submissions are subject to art department review.
For SBC Advertisers/Industry Suppliers
SBC advertisers’ support of the industry helps us reach our goal of educating readers. Another way advertisers and other industry suppliers can educate readers is by submitting content that fits the guidelines of our Article Submission Policy. Suppliers are encouraged to submit articles for consideration or contact SBC staff with an article idea. Preference may be given to SBC Advertisers in terms of space reservation. Contact staff if you have an idea or questions.
For Engineers
Professional engineers seeking continuing education units are encouraged to submit articles for publication. Articles should be technical in nature and address engineering topics that relate to the design, manufacture, or installation of structural building components. If published, send your state’s CEU criteria to SBC staff and we’ll provide the necessary documentation to redeem your credits.
Policies for Republishing Article & Documents
REPUBLISHING SBCA COPYRIGHTED DOCUMENTS WITHOUT SBCA COMPENSATION: If any material from SBC's articles is copied for use for purely promotional and educational purposes and not for resale, then SBCA will provide permission for all of the specified article(s) provided SBC is given credit as source of the document and a link to our website is given as www.sbcmag.info.
REPUBLISHING SBCA COPYRIGHTED DOCUMENTS WITH SBCA COMPENSATION: If any material from our articles is copied and then used within another document for the purpose of generating income for another association or corporation, then SBCA, with the approval of the SBCA Executive Committee, will (1) sell the article and all of it can be included in the new publication in its original form; (2) will grant permission to copy and republish all or portions of the article with SBCA receiving a royalty for the sale of each new document published. The royalty will be agreed upon by SBCA and the party requesting permission.
For copyright requests, please contact SBC staff.
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Joe Hikel’s main focus for this year was to establish better connections with the supply chain. The foundation has been set.
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Collaborative work on the lumber design value issue and forging relationships at all levels of the supply chain goes a long way toward helping the industry survive today and thrive in the future.
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Hikel’s personal return on investment on time working within SBCA has been invaluable, both in business opportunities and the personal reward from the relationships formed.
- The Occupancy Category designates the nature of occupancy for a building, which affects the required design loads for the structure.
- There is a direct relationship between the Occupancy Category and the Importance Factor—a low category will result in lower loads and a high category will call for an increase in loads
It’s the end of an era for the structural building components industry. Richard Brown, former President of Truss Systems (Oxford, GA), retired May 31. The industry sends its best wishes to a “true Southern gentleman.”
Housing starts and building permits are leading monthly indicators of residential building activity. Building permits are issued by building departments, signaling a green light to begin construction, and they indicate future construction. Housing starts reflect the number of homes, apartment buildings or townhouses on which construction began in a given month.
U.S. Starts & Permits
In the U.S., housing starts and building permits are reported monthly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (a division of the Department of Commerce). New housing construction data are collected by the Census Bureau in a series of surveys driven mainly through permit offices.
- Each report is released around the 15th of each month.
- The data is made available to the public on the Census Bureau's website.
- Each report is broken out by region: East, Midwest, North and South.
- Building permits by state are reported by the Census Bureau, but housing starts by state are not. This data can be purchased from the National Association of Home Builders.
- Delton Alderman and Urs Buehlmann are research scientists for the USDA Forest Service in Princeton, West Virginia. View their housing analysis’s which provide observations on U.S. housing statistics recorded.
Reports
- This Month's Housing Starts Report
- U.S. Housing Starts Chart: 2003 - Present
- U.S. Housing Permits Chart: 2003 - Present
- U.S. Housing Starts & Permits Chart: 2003 - Present
Canadian Housing Starts
In Canada, housing starts are reported to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). CMHC is Canada’s national housing agency established as a government-owned corporation in 1946.
- The report is released around the 10th of each month.
- The data is made available to the public at the CMHC website.
- Each report is broken out by province: Alberta, Atlantic Provinces (Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island), British Columbia, Ontario, Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) and Québec.
- Unlike the U.S., CMHC does not track building permits.
- CMHC Report: Demographic and Socio-economic Influences on Housing Demand
- CMHC Report: Recent Trends in Canadian Housing Affordability and Core Housing Need
Reports
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find housing starts or building permit data specific to my state?
Due to its method of collecting data, the Census Bureau makes permit data available to the public, but not housing starts data. While the U.S. Census Bureau does track it, it is not made available to the public. You can buy it from the National Association of Home Builders.
What does SAAR mean?
Most housing starts data you see are shown as a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate, or SAAR. Seasonally adjusted figures are helpful because they attempt to remove seasonal variations in data and allow you to easily compare figures monthly. SAAR is calculated by dividing the unadjusted annual rate for the month by its seasonality factor and creating an adjusted annual rate for the month.
I'm looking for annual housing starts from past years. Where can I find it?
The Census Bureau has a nifty list that goes back all the way to 1959!
- The fact that ten truss technicians may come up with ten completely different designs for the same project is evidence that components are not commodities.
- It is very important to confirm that the applied loads are the loads that the EOR or building owner has specified.
- Using unique ways to share design best practices is a great way to develop skills and build strong teams.
- Every component design department should have a small reference library of important technical documents.
- It is generally best to make sure your designs conform with the most current versions of the IBC and IRC.
- However, building code adoption is at the discretion of the authority having jurisdiction.
- SBCA’s vision for a testing facility is to create new methods to value engineer structures.
- Finding out about load paths through building components has been the focus of SBCRI’s work.
- The ability to do forensic testing in SBCRI is a useful risk management strategy.
- Sending a Jobsite Package with each truss delivery is a good way to share safe installation and bracing recommendations with framers.
- In the near future, SBCA is committed using SBCRI testing to optimize BCSI guidelines.
- We hope to change bracing design by combining temporary and permanent bracing into one step.
- Information about installation tolerances can be found in the B1 Summary Sheet.