Legislative Alert: Indiana Bill Singles Out Truss Construction for Alerts

A bill (HB 1124) has been introduced in the Indiana House that would require builders, as part of their application for a building permit, to send certified letters to the local fire service and emergency responders, notifying them of their intent to construct a class 1 or 2 building using “engineered wood.” The bill narrowly defines “engineered wood: as:

“Sec. 5. As used in this chapter, "engineered lumber" means  lumber or structural assemblies that:  (1) are composite materials fabricated from:  (A) wood;  (B) light gauge metal;  (C) adhesives; (D) other component materials; or (E) any combination of materials described in clauses (A) through (D);  (2) have less mass cross-sectional area than sawn lumber of  equivalent proportions used in an equivalent application; and  (3) are assembled from combustible or noncombustible  materials, or both. The term does not include lumber or a structural assembly that provides at least one (1) hour of fire resistance when tested in accordance with ASTM Standard E119.”

SBCA recently learned the Indiana Homebuilders Association testified in support of this measure. SBCA has reached out to members in Indiana, the Indiana HBA and the sponsor of the bill to gather more information on the interest groups and forces driving this bill forward.

SBCA will continue to monitor this issue and provide updates if there appears to be any forward movement on this legislation. If any of our readers has information about this issue, please let us know. In addition, if any SBCA member has local fire service, building official or legislative contacts in Indiana that SBCA staff could reach out to, please let us know and we’ll initiate these conversations.