As mass timber construction continues to build momentum, critical lessons learned on jobsites are emerging to ensure successful project outcomes. The aesthetics and many benefits of mass timber are well known, but bringing these projects to life involves significant technical and logistical challenges. Common issues that need careful consideration include moisture management, lack of experience, site logistics, safety and more.

“The single most important time in any mass timber project – and where most mistakes are made – is early involvement,” said Scott Comfort, president of Seagate Mass Timber. “You can never talk about mass timber too early in your project. Always have an engineer lifting and bracing plan in place – absolutely critical for the safety of the job and for it to do well.”

He stressed lift engineering requires special attention to ensure safe site practices, citing that 90 per cent of lifting screws are single use but that 75 per cent of people use them multiple times.

“You want to use them more than once but you absolutely can’t – they are single use design and can cause very catastrophic problems,” said Comfort, who was a speaker at Buildex Vancouver.

Other items to be discussed on a mass timber project include confirming schedule, robust temporary works plans, crane size and access, rigging, supplier constraints, member sizing, sequencing and installation.