Risk Management

Responsibilities With Lumberyards

Question: 

When you’re selling trusses through a lumberyard and the contractor calls to say that the “trusses don't fit correctly,” who has the ultimate responsibility for the trusses? I argue that the lumberyard is responsible since we have provided them with all the information on how the job was designed, even though they may or may not have passed this information on to the contractor.

Vent Sizes

Question: 

I have mono trusses on either side of a firewall. I have the fire rating/wall material between them. Can I place a ridge vent above these two? Or should I use vents? How do I calculate the appropriate vent sizes and styles?

Sealed Placement Plans

Question: 

Is it the responsibility of the truss manufacturer to provide a sealed layout drawing for roof trusses?

Old Fire Retardant Treated Lumber

Question: 

I have recently heard of a problem with fire-retardant-treated wood (FRTW) trusses that were manufactured and installed in 1965-1980. I was searching for more information, since my job involves the protection of property in our member school districts. I had heard that the trusses make of FRTW during that time period can or will become corrosive to the hardware and the trusses will fail.

Post Fire Retardant Treatment

Question: 

Is a Class A fire rating (provided by our liquid spray-on fire retardant) acceptable in certain situations?

Truss Storage Responsibilities

Question: 

We have a customer that bought trusses in June. The trusses were shipped [ and one month later are] being set. The chords have weathered and bowed. What is the industry standard for dealing with this problem? What is our liability in this situation? We were not aware of any delays on the customer’s part and shipped as requested. Note: These trusses are 62 ft. scissor trusses.

Truss Blow Down

Question: 

If trusses blew down from insufficient temporary bracing and the contractor put them back up without the knowledge of the truss manufacturer and gave the truss manufacturer a letter stating that the trusses were okay, is that sufficient? Do you know of any truss manufacturer who would accept this?

Fall Protection

Question: 

Are wood trusses designed to be fall protection anchors that would support a worker should he fall?

Why Track Leading Indicators?

Mike Boswell—production manager of Plum Building Systems—and Chris Lambert—a general manager with Builders FirstSource—both understand how critical it is to cultivate a safety culture that empowers their employees. One way they accomplish this goal is by proactively measuring the success of their safety programs with the often underutilized practice of near-miss reporting.  

Take 5 Minutes to Prevent Heat Illness

August 3, 2016

As we approach the “dog days of summer,” preventing heat illnesses on the jobsite is an increasingly important training topic to cover with your employees.