What is cold formed steel used for?
Floor systems, wall framing, roof framing, outdoor decks, outdoor structures, and stair systems, most often on commercial and municipal buildings.
Cold Formed Steel Design
Cold formed steel earns its place where a light, dimensionally stable, non-combustible frame has to do the work of heavier framing.
What is included
- Member sizing verified by computer-based load analysis
- Comprehensive plans and details specific to the project
- Designed to the current edition of the applicable building codes
- Construction Observations available through construction
Where it is used
We have designed a large volume of cold formed steel projects for commercial, municipal, and residential structures. The material appears in floor systems, wall framing, roof framing, outdoor decks, outdoor structures, and stair systems.
Cold formed steel is most common on our commercial and municipal work, where fire rating, span, and dimensional consistency matter more than first cost.
How we design it
We use computer-based analysis software to simulate the loads that act on each structural member, so a member is sized for what the building will actually do to it.
Cold formed members are thin-walled, so the governing check is often local buckling and connection bearing rather than gross section capacity. That is where the analysis time goes.
Through these projects we produce the drawings, documents, and specifications required to complete the work. Each set includes the plans and details specific to that project, designed to the most current edition of the applicable building codes.
Who carries this work
Licensed and credentialed in structural engineering
Common questions.
How does cold formed steel differ from structural steel?
Cold formed members are shaped from sheet at room temperature and are thin-walled, so local buckling and connection detailing usually govern. Hot-rolled structural steel is heavier and governed by different limit states.
Next step
Need cold formed steel design?
Send the building, the site, and the timeline. A licensed engineer will tell you what we would actually do.