# Truss Inspection & Material Lifts



## jstroming (Aug 31, 2013)

My company owns around 1000ft of box truss, and I was wondering if it is common for production companies to take it to a rigging company (Sapsis, Mountain, etc.) and get the truss either "re-certified" or just an inspection to see what is safe to still use. I own almost all Tomcat truss, in varying condition. Maybe bringing in an outside expert to inspect? Once it is deemed no good, is there anything that can be done with it or do I just scrap it?


Also, I currently own quite a few (16) Sumner 2124 material lifts which were acquired when we bought out a lighting company. These are inspected annually and when any parts start to wear significantly on them they are sent out to a repair facility. I am now beginning to wonder if it is in fact safe to use these since Sumner now has a new product "Eventer Lift" which is built specifically for staging applications. I could sell these used so I wouldn't be out a TON of money by switching these all to Eventer lifts. For the record, I've never had any riggers (even in big union houses & convention centers) question the use of this specific model, and I think that might have to do with the fact that we do keep them in excellent condition. I am inquiring as to both the safety of them and the potential liability of not using a product specifically as intended.


Thank you for your advice.


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## BillConnerFASTC (Aug 31, 2013)

Get the plasa ANSI standard and see what it has to say. Call Tomcat and ask them. As you probably know, metal does fatigue, and assemblies like truss are engineered to the nth degree to not use any more material than absolutely necessary.


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## DuckJordan (Aug 31, 2013)

We inspect our truss annually and keep record... All done in house.

But if you don't know what to look for bring in someone who does.


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## What Rigger? (Sep 1, 2013)

By all means, have a 3rd party come inspect your truss. This may alleviate liability on your end. 

Once a truss is to be retired, that's it. Red tag it. Destroy as soon as possible so it does not accidentally get put in with the good stock.


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## ruinexplorer (Sep 1, 2013)

I agree that if it is deemed no good, then it should be destroyed and sent to recycling. I can only imagine someone thinking that they could just use it for decorative purposes only, but then somewhere down the road it still ends up getting a load put on it. If it isn't safe for its intended purpose, then it needs to be retired in a manner that does not allow it to be used again. We do this with rope, span sets, even ladders.


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## MNicolai (Sep 1, 2013)

ruinexplorer said:


> I agree that if it is deemed no good, then it should be destroyed and sent to recycling. I can only imagine someone thinking that they could just use it for decorative purposes only, but then somewhere down the road it still ends up getting a load put on it. If it isn't safe for its intended purpose, then it needs to be retired in a manner that does not allow it to be used again. We do this with rope, span sets, even ladders.



To that end, you don't want someone pulling your damaged goods out of a dumpster and then putting them to use. Theaters and production houses are notoriously good places for dumpster divers to see what they can scavenge. A couple sticks of what may appear to be perfectly decent truss and they'll think they're getting a steal.


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## derekleffew (Sep 1, 2013)

BillConnerASTC said:


> Get the plasa ANSI standard and see what it has to say. ...


For the lazy, ANSI E1.2 - 2012 from this page: TSP - Published Documents - About TSP Documents, Published Documents, Public Review Documents, Procedural Documents . Section 6 is "User Inspection." Section 6.7 is 
"Repairs and Removal from Service."
.


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## JohnD (Sep 1, 2013)

Considering how strong the scrap metal market is, I'm surprised truss doesn't grow legs.


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## MPowers (Sep 1, 2013)

jstroming said:


> ........common for production companies to take it to a rigging company (Sapsis, Mountain, etc.) and get the truss either "re-certified" or just an inspection ............... Once it is deemed no good, is there anything that can be done with it or do I just scrap it?................ Sumner 2124 material lifts ...........if it is in fact safe to use these since Sumner now has a new product "Eventer Lift" ..............I am inquiring as to both the safety of them and the potential liability of not using a product specifically as intended.....



I'm sure different companies have different procedures. As far as I know, there is no "certification" or "re-certification" for truss, however it is required by code to inspect the truss at both "frequent"

> Frequent inspections shall be performed by a competent person on behalf of the user. The inspections shall be conducted prior to each use and immediately after any incident that might have in any way
> caused damage to the system or any individual modules. Inspection criteria and routines shall be provided by the manufacturer


 and "Periodic" inspections

> Periodic Inspections shall be performed by a qualified person on behalf of the owner at least once each year. Inspection criteria and routines shall be provided by the manufacturer. Truss shall be taken out of service during inspection. For permanent installations, whether fixed or moving, inspections shall be permitted during non-show times, with the units remaining in place



Whether or not you perform the periodic inspections in house or have a 3rd party inspection depends on whether you have a "qualified" person on staff. At CLE we inspect all truss as it returns from every job. Any truss deemed questionable is set aside to be further inspected by myself. Every 3 months I inspect 100% of our truss inventory and submit a written, signed, inspection report. Each piece, corner block 90's T's , sticks etc is bar coded and I enter the code of any damaged or decommisioned truss. If that piece would accidently get mixed back into the active stack, the bar code would sound an alarm when someone tried to pull that piece for a job. If you have ETCP riggers on staff, they should be "Qualified and Competent Persons" to perform inspections. Check with the the truss manufacturer, in your case, Thomas, and see if they offer training classes or materials for inspection criteria, including standard manufacturing tolerances, procedures, etc. Then follow those procedures and ANSI E1.2 and make and keep on record, written reports. That should cover the truss.

As to the lifts, With the maintenance and inspections you mention, I think you are on firm ground here. The major differences between the 2100 series and the Eventer are the 800# capacity, the black color, cable path and soft pads. The 2100 series are intended for contractors, which you are. If your use is within the manufacturer's stated capacity of 650#, then you should be fine. While it is not designed specifically for the entertainment industry, that use is not excluded by the manufacturer. If you have any doubts concerning this, I suggest contacting Sumner Manufacturing and ask for clarification in writing.

Note: The opinions stated above are strictly IMHO and not in any way intended as legal advice. I don't know if there are specific codes in New York or the City that pertain to truss inspections or lift use. Check with your local AHJ. Hope this helps.


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## LavaASU (Sep 1, 2013)

One use I've heard of for damaged truss is making table or lecture bases. Basically end of stick on ground, cut off at desired height, attach table top or lectern top. Truss bases uplit then look awesome onstage. I'd consider that ok since theres no way it could be used for rigging.


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## derekleffew (Sep 1, 2013)

LavaASU said:


> One use I've heard of for damaged truss is making table or lecture bases. ...


Decommissioned truss pieces can have a multitude of uses. There's a company, that I won't link to as it will probably cause this post to become invisible, that makes table, chairs, desk, etc. out of new. Cool, but expensive.

How about a "roadie" bar-b-que/smoker?


Recent example, from Favebook.
.


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## DuckJordan (Sep 1, 2013)

Tomcat also has a buy back kinda thing I believe. You send your damaged back and receive credit for new


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## MPowers (Sep 4, 2013)

jstroming;290958.............. Sumner now has a new product "Eventer Lift" ...........[/QUOTE said:


> If you do descide to buy new, VMB also has a line of entertainment industry designed lifts similar to the Eventer, i.e. black tower, 990# lift cap, 27' lift etc, available through Creative Lighting. Now you have a choice, pick the model that fits your needs/budget.
> 
> 
> VMB's HDT-8 Heavy Duty Tower Lift - YouTube
> ...


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