Engineering & Testing

Fire Service Pushing Hard to Update E119 Fire-Rating Test

February 3, 2021

Being comfortable most of the time is a good thing—being comfortable with your assignment, with your tools, with your crew.

Proposal Would Extend Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credit

December 13, 2019

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee issued a draft version of the GREEN Act.

Can a Building Official Deny Approval of an RDP's Work?

September 18, 2019

The short answer is no, not according to the law. Why? Because the building official does not have jurisdiction over professional engineers. They only have authority with respect to enforcing the specific provisions of the building code that has been adopted into law.

Drying a Wall to the Interior and Exterior, Vapor Barrier Placement

July 31, 2019

Chris Byers has a long history in the green building industry and currently works as a Commercial Solar Developer at Namasté Solar. Throughout his career he has assisted in the development and construction of over 24 MW of projects since 2016. Byers has designed and managed solar projects in the United States, Haiti, and Kenya. Because of this, it only seemed suitable that Byers himself take the same approach to sustainability that he has always advocated for when creating his own home.

TPI Circles Back to SBCA Solution for Cross-Platform Initiative

July 22, 2019

The Truss Plate Institute (TPI) announced in a July update to its Cross-Platform Initiative Blog that it is building upon Uniform Data Standard (UDS), developed by SBCA’s IT Committee.

Update on the TPI Cross-Platform Initiative

May 13, 2019

One of the Truss Plate Institute’s (TPI) 2019 initiatives is a response to the industry unified data standard (UDS) work undertaken by the Structural Building Components Association’s (SBCA) IT Committee in 2018 to provide more efficient and timely communication between manufacturing equipment and truss design and management software. 

Kylmala Truss Gets Big Return from QA Inspections

May 6, 2019

Kylmala Truss is certified in the SBCA In-Plant Quality Control (QC) program and receives quarterly 3rd Party Quality Audits (QA) from the SBCRI-TPI 3rd Party inspection program.

Where Did 1/32” Plate Embedment Tolerance Originate?

April 15, 2019

In 1992 the WTCA Board of Directors was reviewing TPI-85 Appendix P: Quality Standard for Metal Plated Connected Wood Trusses and found a disconcerting term; “firm embedment”, where a certain percentage of the plate had to be in metal to wood contact. This lead to a WTCA project, by Mr. Pat McGuire, to determine if “firm embedment” was possible for truss manufacturers to comply with consistently.

Can a Building Official Deny Approval of a P.E.'s Work?

April 2, 2019

The short answer is no, not according to the law. Why? Because the building official does not have jurisdiction over professional engineers. They only have authority with respect to enforcing the specific provisions of the building code that has been adopted into law.

The Science of Weathered Performance for Joists & Trusses

March 25, 2019

SBCA’s Quality Control and Engineering and Technology committees were heavily involved in both the creation and the execution of SBCA's weathering research and testing program, this article discusses how that plan was finalized and reviewed.