An Overview of Revised Restraint and Bracing
Recommendations for Metal Plate Connected Wood Trusses
For years, post-frame building contractors have relied on the prescriptive recommendations in SBCA’s Building Component Safety Information (BCSI) guide to promote safe handling, installation, and bracing of metal plate connected wood trusses. Since its initial conception, the guide has been periodically reviewed and updated by soliciting and incorporating feedback from industry experts and allied organizations. These updates integrate shifts in technology, process, product, and building codes to uphold the merit, validity, and relevance of the information provided. The most recent version was published in 2018 with an interim revision dated in March 2020.
In late 2023, SBCA began a consensus-style process with the goal of completely overhauling the guide. A broad committee of 17 individuals from SBCA’s Engineering and Technology Committee, Truss Plate Institute’s Technical Advisory Committee, and the National Framers Council, plus SBCA staff members, was formed for the project with the objective of ensuring the safety and prescriptive bracing recommendations included are relevant, technically correct, and practical.
Understanding the importance of bracing, the committee that was formed recognized that for bracing to be effective, it needs to be properly installed, which the guide needs to make easy to understand. With this in mind, the committee tasked itself with developing a new visual look and layout changes. At the end of January 2025, the committee completed its work and released the new Building Component Safety Information – Guide to Good Practice for Handling, Installing, Restraining and Bracing Structural Building Components, BCSI-2025.
Overview of Changes
Many of the changes incorporated in BCSI-2025 involve layout and visual improvements. New content was added to describe the component design and approval process, code requirements, and jobsite planning. Prescriptive temporary bracing recommendations were enhanced, and new permanent bracing recommendations were added.
Additionally, the guide now utilizes chapters, section numbers, a single-column format, updated graphics, and refined defined terms as described below.
Chapters – The most notable change to the guide is that the layout has been revised to a chapter format instead of the previous section format organized by B-Series content. The new guide consists of thirteen chapters and four appendices. Content from the different B-Series sections was organized into individual chapters in a project sequential manner, and duplicate information was minimized.
Section numbers – Section numbers were added to the document to facilitate referencing specific parts or sections.
Single-column format – BCSI-2025 is formatted using a single column rather than two columns per page. This is consistent with recent changes to the building codes and many referenced standards.
Updated graphics – All of the guide’s graphics were updated, and photographs were replaced with graphics to provide a clean, consistent look.
Defined terms – BCSI-2025’s catalog of defined terms has been streamlined and are now shown italicized.
Content Organization – In previous versions of BCSI, recommendations for post frame construction were combined with the recommendations for installation and bracing of trusses spaced more than two feet on center. The committee recognized that there are many building types that utilize trusses spaced more than two feet on center that are not post frame structures. Therefore, the information was divided into two chapters (Chapter 8 – Trusses with Spacing Greater Than Two Feet on Center and Chapter 9 – Post Frame Construction).
Significant Changes
Beyond these changes, there are a handful of technical changes to the prescriptive recommendations in the new BCSI-2025 guide. Since the last BCSI was published, the industry has continued to progress, and common understanding of truss bracing has evolved, in addition to the state of practice. To reflect this, the prescriptive recommendations in BCSI have been revised with the newly published BCSI-2025. The following is a list of notable changes:
Trusses Spaced More than Two Feet Apart – Limits of applicability for the prescriptive restraint and bracing recommendations were added for trusses spaced more than two feet on center. Within these limits, the lateral restraint requirements are provided as a function of the truss clear span, rather than providing maximum truss spans for different lateral restraint spacings. These limits of applicability are included in Chapter 8 and are shown below:
• Maximum truss clear span of 60’-0”
• Truss spacing greater than 2 feet up to 4 feet
• Flat bottom chord trusses
• Trusses with a top chord pitch between 3:12 and 12:12
• Symmetrical triangular trusses
• The truss top chord should consist of minimum No. 1 Southern Pine or equivalent
Because of the greater complexity, trusses to be installed outside of these limits should have a restraint and bracing plan design prepared by a registered design professional, potentially incorporated as part of the building design.
Web Member Bracing for Trusses Spaced Two Feet Apart or Less – Previous editions of BCSI have recommended installing web member diagonal bracing at every 10 truss spacings where lateral restraint is required. This recommendation has been revised so that now the spacing of the diagonal braces is a function of the force in the web member to be braced provided on the truss design drawing. As the force increases, the recommended diagonal brace spacing decreases. Additionally, the single diagonal brace option has been removed from BCSI-2025 with a preference for the double brace option that provides more capacity with the prescriptive nailing requirements.
Web Reinforcing Recommendations – The web reinforcement table was revised by removing the ‘L’, ‘U’, and scab reinforcement options. Although, the ‘L’, ‘U’, and scab reinforcements are viable options, they are not always equivalent to the one or two rows of lateral restraint as indicated in the current table.
Long Span Trusses – BCSI-2025 recognizes that long span trusses, defined as trusses with a clear span greater than 60 feet, require special attention. Planning guidance for the hoisting, installation, and restraint/bracing is provided within BCSI-2025, but the guide also reinforces the code requirement to engage a registered design professional to provide a temporary and permanent bracing and restraint plan. Accordingly, some prescriptive restraint and bracing recommendations have been revised or removed.
B-Series Sheets
The content of the B-Series Sheets was also updated to correspond to the information and recommendations in the new BCSI guide, BCSI-2025. Because the names of the documents, B1, B2, B3, and so on, are part of the construction industry vernacular, so the decision was made to maintain the current names of these sheets.
The committee also decided to align the scope of the B10 Sheet to match the post frame construction chapter in BCSI-2025. Recommendations relating to the installation, restraint and bracing of trusses spaced more than two feet on center have been removed and will be included in a new B6 Sheet.
Document Availability AND ADOPTION
With references to building codes, standards, and OSHA regulations, BCSI-2025 contains the most current information regarding the handling, installing, restraining and bracing of metal plate connected wood trusses. BCSI-2025 is currently available for purchase, and the corresponding B-Series Sheets will be available for purchase as of May 31, 2025, at www.pubs.sbcacomponents.com.
About SBCA
The Structural Building Components Association (SBCA; www.sbcacomponents.com) is a trade association representing manufacturers of structural building components. Its membership also includes truss plate suppliers, original equipment manufacturers and resellers, computer software companies, lumber suppliers, builders, and professional individuals in various fields, including engineering, marketing, and management. SBCA provides services its membership needs to continue expanding the market share of all structural building components by promoting the common interests of those engaged in manufacturing trusses, wall panels, and related structural components; to ensure growth, continuity, and increased professionalism, which will strengthen the structural building component manufacturing industry’s influence. FBN
