Steel framing methods

There are three basic residential steel framing methods

Stick construction or stick-built construction reflects the elemental nature of erection technique as well as its flexibility to accommodate variations on site. Individual members comprise cold-formed steel, C-and Z-sections, angles and top hat sections as primary framing members in buildings up to three or four storeys in height. 'Cold forming' is the term used to describe the manufacture of products by forming material in the cold state from a steel strip or sheet of uniform thickness.

Balloon construction system

In the Balloon construction system, the wall elements are continuous vertically, and the floors are attached to their side, as in a normal beam and column construction.

'Balloon' System where columns continue vertically to create next storey.

1 loadbearing stud
2 top track
3 bottom track
4 floor joist
5 edge support
6 angle seat













Platform construction

Platform construction involves placing wall elements on floors, so that compressive forces are transferred through the floor elements. This form is most widely used for houses and low rise buildings.

'Platform' System where columns forming upper storey rest on the floor platform of the storey below

1 loadbearing stud
2 top track
3 closure channel
4 bottom track
5 web stiffner
6 floor joist
7 edge support













The Panelized system is a "partial prefabrication" method in which segments of framing members are preassembled to form the structural frame.

Pre-engineered systems usually are "package designed" framing systems in which a rational framing concept is designed for specific local parameters. Steel may be used more efficiently as opposed to the one-to-one substitution for timber framing elements of other systems. Design costs can be mitigated by quantity production.