In this post, Brittney Price, manager of content development for Product & Customer Training, discusses the training offered by Simpson Strong-Tie for customers’ professional development and continuing education credits. The training is offered in online courses and recorded webinars as well as live workshops around the country. The most recent offerings cover the topics of delegated design; code requirements for conventionally framed roofs; and deck inspections.

Are you as far behind on your continuing education credits as I am on my Christmas shopping? It can be a struggle to prioritize professional development and education; your options can be costly, low quality or inconvenient to attend. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Unfortunately, those state licensure requirements are not so sympathetic to your dilemma. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.

At Simpson Strong-Tie, one of our company values — the very first one, in fact — is “Relentless Customer Focus.” That means we’re always looking for ways to make your job easier. One example of how we demonstrate this is in our commitment to providing training and educational opportunities for our customers.

For many years, we’ve offered a variety of live workshops around the country. While there’s no substitute for face-to-face training, technology has opened up more ways for education to take place. We continue to hold live workshops all the time, but we’re also creating a growing library of on-demand training you can access at any time. Because of our accreditation from the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and our partnerships with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and International Code Council (ICC), we’re able to offer education credits that satisfy a wide range of requirements.

We have many online courses and recorded webinars you can choose from, but I want to let you know about three new and unique courses released in 2018 that you can access today. Wouldn’t it be great if you could actually enjoy the experience and learn a few things relevant to your job while earning those credits you need? We think so!

1 – Delegated Design: Understanding the Components of Effective Project Management for Designers (Ethics Topic)

Delegated design is becoming more and more commonplace as demands in the design world continue to increase, but it undoubtedly can add complexity and blurred lines of responsibility to a project. In this course, we take a look at three components of project management: design, collaboration and implementation, examining their interdependencies and potential consequences if not managed effectively. The CEUs offered by this course can also satisfy requirements related to ethics in many states. Check with your state licensing agency for specific requirements. Refer to the Credit Information link associated with this course, and contact training@strongtie.com for more information. View the online course here.

Interpreting building code requirements and how to meet them is not always easy. These next two courses help you do just that . . .

2 – Code Requirements for Conventionally Framed Roofs

This course reviews Chapter 8 of the IRC as it applies to conventionally framed, or “stick-frame,” roofing. Topics include joist-to-rafter connections, fastening requirements and correct location of structural members. We don’t talk about our connector solutions in this training, but after viewing this course you may want to check out our Building Stronger Roofs solutions page to learn about our LSSJ field-adjustable hanger, LRUZ rafter hanger and HHRC field-slopeable hanger solutions. View the online course here.

3 – Deck Inspection for New and Existing Construction

This course reviews the AWC DCA 6, International Residential Code (IRC) and International Building Code (IBC) requirements for the construction of safe, strong and code-compliant decks. Downloadable resources include a Deck Inspection Checklist and a summary of code references. What’s even cooler, you can switch between 2009, 2012 and 2015 editions of the IRC and IBC at any time within the menu to dynamically change the content you’re seeing. View the online course here.

There you have it — three online courses fresh from our in-house experts and ready for you to take from right where you’re sitting. Let us know what else we can do to meet your training needs or what topics you’d like to see us make available. After all, how can we keep that “Relentless Customer Focus” unless we hear from you, the customer?