Installation Information at Your Fingertips

For decades, SBCA Jobsite Packages have helped component manufacturers (CMs) provide handling and installation guidance to their customers with every order. These pre-assembled packages of instruction documents, attached to truss deliveries in a zippered plastic bag, are now available in a digital format.

To be clear, all the content currently available in hard copy will be included in the digital files, with the added benefit that each page will be branded with the CM’s logo. The electronic jobsite package will include the specific job number and the physical address of the building where the components will be installed. Most importantly, the digital format means access to this critical information will be easier for everyone.

“This offers a lot more flexibility to the component manufacturer,” said Jess Lohse, president of Rocky Mountain Truss Co. “They’re able to supply the correct information up and down the supply chain, and the traceability of it being digital will be a big risk management tool.”

SBCA legal counsel Kent Pagel advised using the SBCA Jobsite Package as “the best way to genuinely inform and warn customers and installers as to the best practices with regard to the important aspects of handling, storage, installation and bracing of trusses and components.” Pagel added, “the jobsite package has become the standard by which component manufacturers are measured in terms of their duty to warn their customers and installers.”

That’s great news for CMs. One of the most difficult tasks CMs encounter is educating users in the field on the proper handling, storage, installation and bracing of their products. Once a CM’s product leaves the plant, it’s difficult for the CM to control how that product is handled and installed. Jobsite packages have proven to be the best way to help in that effort, and a digital format will increase their reach in two important ways.

First, when an electronic jobsite package is created, it has a digital footprint—a record that not only shows the CM supplied best practice documentation, but also proves that the end user had access to it and, ultimately, the responsibility to follow it. For this reason, Lohse thinks the upgrade should elicit greater use from CMs as a risk management tool. “This is a simple and easy way to cover a lot of risk. Getting it in front of the right eyes is the best way to reduce risk because it may prevent an accident. There’s no better way to manage risk than to eliminate the injury or property damage claim. CMs should use it if they’re not!”

Second, providing jobsite packages in hard copy means framers must be on the jobsite when the delivery is made in order to see the instructions before handling and installing the product. Digital documentation gives framers access to the information wherever they are and whenever they want to view it. “This is a simple way for everyone to review bracing documents from home if they want to review things before the next day or when they’re away from the jobsite and have no access to a hard copy,” Lohse said.

The process of creating electronic jobsite packages is simple:

1. A CM logs in to the secure SBCA website and is recognized based on SBCA member status and location. Everything is company-specific.
2. The CM enters the required information and selects the type of package. Package creation is tracked and can be accessed at any time for reference.
3. When the CM clicks publish, the system merges all the chosen files into a PDF, watermarks each page with the jobsite address, and adds the package to the “My Packages” page. From the “My Packages” page, a CM can copy the PDF link into an email to send the electronic jobsite package to the customer. In addition, a QR code is generated and can be included on the shipment. A quick scan of the QR code with a smartphone gives framers in the field immediate access to the documents.

SBCA is working toward a fall 2017 release of the electronic jobsite package creation platform, and CMs like Lohse are excited about its possibilities. “When I saw the demo I thought, ‘a few years from now we’re going to wonder why we waited as long as we did to go digital.’”

Visit the SBCA booth at BCMC to see a live demo of the electronic jobsite package system. For more on the general use of jobsite packages, go to sbcindustry.com/jobsite.