Template Truss Design Drawing Notes Recommended to Protect CMs

At the recent July SBCA Open Quarterly Meeting (OQM) in Madison, WI, the membership discussed the importance of raw material design values and their impact on component manufacturers (CM). SBCA legal counsel and staff have been working to help CMs with respect to potential liability in regard to the use of lumber and plate design properties, which are incorporated into the engineering equations of the plate supplier’s software and are assumed to provide accurate resistance to loads when used in a generally accepted engineering manner.

In this regard, they have developed draft truss design drawing (TDD) notes that take into account CM and truss design engineer assumptions to provide a transparent and accurate approach with respect to a CM and truss design engineer’s scope of work. This was  discussed at the TPI Board of Directors meeting this past June, and has been an on-going discussion item at recent SBCA CM Roundtable meetings. SBCA encourages CMs to review and compare these draft template TDD notes to their current TDD notes. CMs may also want to consider working with their design software provider to implement these concepts in the context of the notes currently being provided on any of their TDDs.

SBCA encourages its CM membership to ensure their scope of responsibilities are clear, understood and well defined. The goal of these TDD notes is to provide counsel with respect to key truss design drawing issues that can cause unexpected consequences should an accident occur and legal action be pursued.  

One issue this has raised recently is that this may lock a CM into a specific plate supplier and their software, giving the appearance they cannot change plate suppliers and engage in a plate substitution transition. This is a rational concern, as we all desire a free market. These notes are not intended to lock anyone into a specific supplier. If a transition is necessary or desired, it would be wise to go through the plate substitution process with clear agreements by all involved on how to proceed to ensure everyone’s scope of work and risks are tended to appropriately.

Please let SBCA know if you have any questions or needs with respect to the concepts presented here so we can work through them to help serve your best interests.