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1. Issue complete architectural, structural, and mechanical information
A truss designer can only produce a reliable layout from the information that is actually issued. At bid and design-assist stages, provide the current architectural, structural, and mechanical documents together, not isolated excerpts. The package should identify design loads, truss spacing, governing building codes, special shapes, bearing conditions, wall and heel conditions, openings, and any unusual load paths.
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Show the geometry that controls heel height
Heel geometry is especially sensitive to missing dimensions. Depending on the roof and wall arrangement, the manufacturer may need the wall height, bottom-of-header elevation, overhang length, and soffit and fascia dimensions. A generic section that is not drawn to scale can produce a wrong heel height even when the overall roof outline looks correct. Use dimensioned, scaled sections at locations where the wall, roof, ceiling, or overhang changes.
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Identify concentrated loads, girder-truss reactions, hanging equipment, attic storage, snow or wind design criteria, and any changes in spacing. Call out hips, valleys, piggyback assemblies, raised heels, dropped top chords, cantilevers, and nonstandard bearings. Put mechanical openings and large ducts on the coordination drawings early enough for the truss designer to account for them instead of cutting around them in the field.
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Archie Landreman of WoodWorks summarized the practical reason for this discipline: “The more information the team has, the better job they’re going to do.” Complete information also gives bidders a fair basis for pricing and lets the manufacturer identify an impossible or unusually expensive condition before fabrication.
2. Send a specification book with the bid
Drawings show geometry, but a specification book records requirements that are easy to omit from plans. Include the truss-related portions of the carpentry and structural specifications in every bid package. State the applicable design standard and code edition, required lumber grades and species where specified, connector-plate or fastening requirements, tolerances, quality documentation, submittals, erection responsibilities, and protection of material on site.
Use specifications to define responsibilities
Clarify who supplies engineering calculations, sealed design drawings where required, field measurements, temporary and permanent bracing, blocking, bearing details, and repairs to damaged members. State how substitutions are proposed and approved. If a project has acoustical, fire-resistance, vibration, or deflection criteria beyond the ordinary code minimum, put those criteria in the specification rather than relying on a note that a manufacturer may never see.
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Why an incomplete bid package costs more later
When requirements arrive piecemeal, a manufacturer may complete a layout and profile only to have the architect or structural engineer reject the assumptions. Landreman warned that redoing work without complete information “could add a lot of time and expense.” A specification book supplied at bid time reduces that risk and makes competing bids more comparable.
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3. Investigate several manufacturers and their comparable work
Choose a manufacturer on demonstrated fit for the project, not on annual sales alone. Ask several candidates for evidence that they have delivered comparable commercial buildings, similar roof geometries, and spans above 60 feet when those conditions occur on your project. Request references for projects with the same mix of span, loading, fire or acoustical requirements, and coordination complexity.
Questions to ask during qualification
- Have you designed and supplied projects with this span, loading, and truss type?
- Can you provide references for comparable commercial work, including projects with spans over 60 feet?
- Will you prepare a preliminary drawing or feasibility layout before final design?
- Who reviews architectural, structural, and mechanical conflicts during approval?
- What is the expected drawing turnaround after a purchase order or contract?
- What installation, bracing, storage, and repair guidance accompanies the shipment?
- How are revised placement drawings and changed truss marks distributed to the field?
Interpret company volume carefully
Annual business volume is only one factor. The 2011 Building Design + Construction discussion used “$10 million worth of trusses a year” and “$500,000” as illustrative examples of different company sizes; those figures are not industry benchmarks and do not prove that the larger producer is better for a particular job. A smaller manufacturer with directly relevant experience and responsive engineering may be a stronger choice than a high-volume supplier unfamiliar with your building type.
4. Coordinate with the manufacturer before final drawings
Early manufacturer input is most valuable while the structural concept can still change. For a proposed 26-foot floor-truss span, a practical sequence is to send the specifications and project criteria, request a preliminary drawing, and use that drawing to test feasibility before committing the concept to final documents.
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- Assemble the design brief. Include spans, bearings, spacing, loads, floor elevations, openings, depth limits, and mechanical requirements.
- Request a preliminary layout. Ask the manufacturer to identify truss depth, bearing reactions, girder locations, and problem areas rather than treating the sketch as a final sealed design.
- Check the building around the trusses. Verify wall heights, stairs, shafts, fire-rated assemblies, ceilings, duct routes, and equipment clearances against the preliminary geometry.
- Resolve conflicts while options remain. Adjust span breaks, bearing lines, depth, or mechanical routes before final architectural and structural drawings are issued.
- Record the agreed assumptions. Put accepted loads, spacing, depth limits, and responsibility for field dimensions in the project documents.
This process prevents a late discovery that a nominal span-table solution cannot fit the actual building. It also gives the design team a chance to compare alternatives on cost, headroom, installation, and mechanical access instead of choosing by span alone.
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5. Make the manufacturer part of the building team
Trusses cross every discipline: architecture controls appearance and clearances, structural engineering controls loads and connections, mechanical design needs penetrations and service zones, and the field team must erect and brace the delivered pieces. Treat the manufacturer as a design-team participant during coordination, while retaining the architect’s and engineer’s responsibility for the overall building design.
Circulate placement diagrams and shop drawings
Send manufacturer placement diagrams and shop drawings to the entire building team. The architectural reviewer can check ceiling lines, roof overhangs, and wall interfaces; the structural engineer can check reactions, bearings, and load paths; the mechanical team can check ducts, pipes, and equipment; and the superintendent can verify access and erection sequencing. Resolve comments in one coordinated review rather than passing contradictory markups between parties.
Control revisions
Use a submittal register and revision log. Identify the drawing date, revision, reviewer, outstanding comments, and approval status. Landreman noted that “many times through the approval process some of the details in the drawings may change.” A controlled log prevents an obsolete truss mark or placement sheet from reaching fabrication or the job site.
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6. Build ordering, layout, fabrication, and approvals into the schedule
Trusses are not an instant material purchase. The schedule must include design clarification, preliminary layouts, engineering, shop-drawing review, revisions, final approval, procurement, fabrication, delivery, and site readiness. Ask each manufacturer for the expected drawing turnaround after the purchase order or contract, then add time for the project’s review cycles.
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Use the two-week figure correctly
The 2011 Building Design + Construction article reported that the approval process “usually takes about two weeks.” That is a typical indication, not a guaranteed duration: the actual time varies with the manufacturer, time of year, project size, and complexity. A large commercial package, an unusual roof, or multiple review rounds can take longer. Put the manufacturer’s written commitment and the architect or engineer review duration on the baseline schedule.
Schedule site readiness as well as fabrication
Before delivery, confirm that bearings are built to the approved elevations, access roads and staging areas are usable, lifting equipment is booked, and temporary bracing materials and trained crews are available. A fabrication date is not a useful milestone if the structure cannot safely receive the trusses.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.7. Follow the latest handling, installation, and bracing instructions
Use the manufacturer’s current instructions for storage, lifting, installation, temporary and permanent bracing, cutting, and notching. Keep the latest revised placement drawings with the erection crew and remove superseded sheets from the work area.
Prevent handling damage
Trusses can be damaged when they are dropped, rolled off trucks, or lifted at unsuitable points. Connector-plate damage may not be obvious from the ground. Inspect pieces on delivery and after setting them; quarantine visibly damaged members and obtain a written repair or replacement direction from the responsible designer or manufacturer. Do not improvise a field repair.
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Inspect before sheathing hides the problem
A damaged truss that is not noticed until roof sheathing is installed can require removal and replacement of the sheathing, adding labor and delay. Make inspection a hold point before decking or roof sheathing covers the top chords. Verify truss marks, bearings, spacing, alignment, required blocking, and bracing against the current placement drawings.
Prohibit unauthorized cutting and notching
Field crews should never cut, notch, drill, or relocate a web or chord to make room for services unless the responsible truss designer issues a repair or redesign. Even a small alteration can change force paths. Route services through designed openings or obtain documented engineering direction before modifying anything.
8. Treat floor-truss depth and spacing as a whole-building decision
Roof trusses generally offer more geometry flexibility because they commonly use sloped trusses. Floor trusses are more sensitive to depth, spacing, and the space available for mechanical systems. Their selection can change floor-to-floor dimensions, overall building height, ceiling coordination, and the cost of routing ducts and pipes.
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In the 2011 example attributed to Landreman, changing a three-story building from 12-inch to 16-inch floor trusses added one foot to the building’s overall height. The arithmetic is straightforward: a four-inch increase at each of three floor levels accumulates to 12 inches. That change can affect zoning limits, stair geometry, parapets, elevators, façade proportions, and energy or fire details.
Spacing and mechanical openings need joint review
Do not select floor-truss depth and spacing solely from a preprinted span table. Ask the manufacturer to evaluate the actual span, loads, bearing layout, deflection criteria, openings, and service routes. Compare alternatives for clear depth, vibration, material use, installation handling, and the number and location of permitted openings. Coordinate the final choice with the mechanical designer before floor elevations are fixed.
| Decision factor | Roof trusses | Floor trusses |
|---|---|---|
| Typical geometry | Often sloped, with substantial layout flexibility | Usually constrained by a level floor and required depth |
| Primary coordination concern | Roof slope, heel, overhangs, bearings, and special shapes | Floor-to-floor height, deflection, vibration, openings, and service zones |
| Building-height sensitivity | Driven mainly by roof profile and wall/heel conditions | Small depth changes repeat at each level and can accumulate |
| Best design check | Scaled sections and complete roof geometry | Manufacturer layout coordinated with structural, architectural, and mechanical plans |
A practical review checklist before release
Use this checklist at the design-assist, submittal, and field-release milestones:
- Current architectural, structural, and mechanical drawings are issued together.
- Loads, code criteria, spacing, bearings, wall heights, heel dimensions, overhangs, and special shapes are identified.
- Specifications define materials, engineering, submittals, bracing, field measurements, and repair responsibilities.
- The selected manufacturer has comparable-project and, where relevant, over-60-foot-span experience with references.
- Preliminary layouts have been reviewed before final drawings lock the concept.
- Placement diagrams and shop drawings have one coordinated review and a documented revision status.
- The schedule includes design, approvals, fabrication, delivery, site readiness, and expected seasonal or complexity delays.
- The field has current installation and bracing instructions, the latest placement drawings, inspection hold points, and a no-unauthorized-modification rule.
- Floor-truss depth and spacing have been checked against total building height and mechanical routes.
These steps turn truss design from a late procurement exercise into a coordinated part of building design. The result is not merely a truss that spans the distance on paper, but a package that can be fabricated, approved, delivered, erected, and integrated with the rest of the structure without avoidable redesign.
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