OSPI is notifying school districts in Washington regarding a potential roof structure problem in wood truss-framed buildings built between 1970-1988. Subject buildings have bidder-designed wood roof trusses by the company FrameJoist. FrameJoist trusses have been determined to be the cause of a roof failure at Capital High School in Olympia in heavy snow conditions in 2008.
The OSPI bulletin contains recommendations for school districts with buildings from this period which may have been built with FrameJoist wood trusses. The trusses are composed of 2x members connected to plywood gusset plates with adhesive only (no mechanical fasteners).
Download OSPILetterReFrameJoist
School districts with concerns about FrameJoist wood trusses may wish to contact a structural engineering firm for consultation. The following structural engineering firms are members of the Washington Chapter of CEFPI:
AHBL
Coughlin Porter Lundeen
DCI Engineers
DLR Group
Integrus
PCS Structural Solutions
