Keeping Up with the Times

Updates to Improve the Lives of Component Manufacturers

In 2024, SBCA worked on the revision and updating of its Building Component Safety Information (BCSI) Handbook. During BCMC, there was a session to review TPI and BCSI changes. 

“As someone who has participated in both the update to ANSI/TPI 1, and the collaborative reorganization and update of BCSI, they are both vastly improved,” says Howard Gauger, Chair of SBCA’s E&T Committee. “I think component manufacturers and installers will really benefit from the changes in these two documents.”

ANSI/TPI 1 Standard
“The ANSI/TPI 1 Standard is updated regularly through a consensus-based process, and the changes are made to reflect both advancements in the industry and our increased knowledge of how trusses perform in various building applications,” says Jay Jones, Executive Director of the Truss Plate Institute (TPI).

While there were numerous changes made to the 2022 version of the standard, Jay points to six notable updates the component manufacturers should be aware of:

• Person Loading: A load check was added for trusses with unsheathed chords. The provision requires a 300-pound point load to be checked at each chord mid-point concurrently with dead load using a load duration factor of 1.6 or less.
• Multi-Ply Girder Load Distribution: New guidance was added for determining load distribution to the individual plies of a multi-ply girder truss loaded from one face.  
• Lumber Wane: Inspectors are alerted that lumber wane could be prohibited in the bearing area of some extended-chord-bearing trusses due to the possible reduction in bearing surface.
• Web Reinforcement: There can be times when using a designed reinforcement is more practical and economical. A new design method can help determine the capacity of reinforced webs such as T-, L-, I-, U-, and scab reinforced webs.
• Extended-Chord Bearing Trusses: Provisions were added for determining the maximum reactions for extended-chord-bearing trusses (e.g., top chord bearing) beyond the traditional prescriptive table.
• Joint Stiffness Modeling for Floor Trusses: Two new sections provide guidance and limitations on modeling translational and rotational stiffness for truss joints in certain floor truss applications.

BCSI Reorganization
“It has long been recognized that while the BCSI is the best guidance our industry provides on the handling and installing of wood trusses, it isn’t the most user-friendly document for those working in the field,” says Greg Greenlee, Technical Director for SBCA. “Our goal in reorganizing BCSI is to streamline the information and present it in a way that is more approachable for framers and better fits their process.”

Much of the duplication that occurred throughout various sections of BCSI has been eliminated, terms have been consolidated, and language has been updated to be more consistent with what can be found in the latest versions of the IBC, IRC, and ANSI/TPI 1.

SBCA brought together members of the SBCA E&T Committee, TPI Technical Advisory Council (TAC), NFC Steering Committee, and SBCA Technical Advisory Panel to methodically go through every section of the current BCSI, representing the perspectives of everyone from design to installation. 

Considerable time and effort went into harmonizing the input of framers and professional engineers to provide more practical guidance on several topics ranging from ground bracing to long span truss installation.

“It was clear to me that all the people involved in these two revision processes care deeply about the components industry and made sure these two industry-guiding documents are the best they can be, given what we know about our industry’s products today,” says Howard. “It really behooves every component manufacturer to become familiar with all the changes that have been made and use them to their advantage.”