In April building code officials in Pennsylvania will attend a new and comprehensive educational seminar about commercial and residential post-frame systems, thanks in large part to the efforts of the National Frame Building Association (NFBA). The 1-day educational program, developed with NFBA funding and to be presented by a group of NFBA-affiliated engineer consultants, will likely serve as a prototype for similar programs throughout the country in coming years.

The upcoming seminar, to be held at the Pennsylvania Construction Code Academy (PCCA) headquarters near Enola, PA, is one of several planned throughout Pennsylvania in the next few years, will. The 6-hour educational program was developed cooperatively by NFBA Technical and Research Advisor Harvey Manbeck, PhD PE, with NFBA’s Atlantic Northeast (ANE) Chapter members Tim Royer, PE (pictured to the left), Tim Little, and Ken Kistler. Seminar presentations are sponsored and administered by the PCCA, which provides code certification programs and training for building code officials. PCCA will provide administrative, marketing, and funding support for the seminars.

“The ANE Chapter saw a need for a uniform interpretation of the building code, particularly as it applies to post-frame construction,” said Royer, president of Timber Tech Engineering, Inc., based in Denver, PA, and Kouts, IN. “As we dug a little deeper, we found that some officials who didn’t understand the science behind post-frame construction viewed it as a lesser type of construction. At both the state and national levels, NFBA is all about showing code officials that post-frame is a code-accepted way to build structurally sound buildings.”

The seminar will help building code officials understand how post-frame buildings conform to building codes and how certain aspects of its structural design—including footings, different types of posts and framing connections, and diaphragm construction—differ from standard frame construction. Building code officials will also participate in mock building inspections of actual construction projects.

“Many code officials don’t understand post-frame construction, and this [seminar] will allow them to understand exactly what they’re looking at in post frame,” said Royer, expects the Pennsylvania seminars to be well attended.

According to Manbeck, the Pennsylvania program can be easily adapted to conform to other jurisdictions around the country. “The need for code official training transcends Pennsylvania,” he said. “I suspect that people in different states will agree it is valuable to make code officials more aware of post-frame and how to better conduct a code inspection of a post-frame system. This is an opportunity to provide training to remove a potential barrier in some jurisdictions to get post frame approved.”

Royer agrees that the Pennsylvania program marks a beginning. “NFBA’s ANE Chapter is spearheading this for Pennsylvania, but we are completely aware that this is a challenge that people are having across the country,” he said. “I encourage other chapters around the country—and I know a lot of them already do—to take an active part in training not only their code officials, but their municipal and county officials as well.” One way to do this, he said, is to share with them the many technical resources, including the Post-Frame Building Design Manual, that are available on the NFBA Web site.

The April date of the conference is still being finalized, but Post Frame Advantage will publish that information when it is confirmed. For questions or more information, please contact Tim Royer at trr@timbertecheng.com or Harvey Manbeck hmanbeck@engr.psu.edu.