Independent engineering certification of light-gauge and hot-rolled steel framing designed by your detailers, checked against the wind classification of the actual site before a certificate is issued.
What Steel Frame Suppliers Need From an Engineer
A steel frame supplier, roll-former or fabricator needs an independent engineer who checks the frame design against the site it will stand on and certifies it in time for the certifier and the build program. Your software and your detailers produce the frame. What the certifier wants on the file is a certificate from a structural engineer saying that frame, on that site, meets the standard. That certificate is only worth something if the check behind it is real.
What We Certify
We certify light-gauge (cold-formed) steel framing designed to AS/NZS 4600 and the NASH Standard, and hot-rolled steel framing, where the design was prepared by someone else. AS/NZS 4600 is the Australian Standard for cold-formed steel structures. The NASH Standard, published by the National Association of Steel-Framed Housing, sets out design criteria and solutions for residential and low-rise steel framing. Typical work includes wall frames, floor framing, roof framing and steel trusses supplied as part of a frame package, and hot-rolled beams, columns and portal frames within a house or small building.
What the Check Covers
The check follows the load path from the roof to the footing, and every link in it has to work for the site. In practice that means:
- Member schedules. Stud, plate, lintel, joist and rafter sections and thicknesses against their spans and loads.
- Bracing. The amount, type and location of wall bracing against the racking load for the site wind classification.
- Hold-downs. The anchors and brackets at bracing panels and frame ends, and what they fix into.
- The tie-down chain. Roof sheeting to battens, battens to trusses or rafters, trusses to top plate, wall frame to slab, so that uplift is carried all the way down.
- Openings and point loads. Lintels, jamb studs and the members under girder truss reactions.
Wind classification is the design wind rating for a site, worked out from its region, terrain, shielding and topography. Two blocks in the same street can classify differently, so a frame detailed for one wind class cannot be assumed to suit another. For more on how wind governs light structures, read when a shed or carport needs an engineer.
The Certificate Is Only Issued If the Design Works
A certificate is issued only when the frame design works on that site, and never as a signature on a drawing that has not been checked. If a member, a bracing panel or a connection does not work, we tell you which one, why, and what would need to change, so your detailer can revise it and resubmit. We do not quietly redesign your frame; the design stays yours, and the certificate covers the version that passed.
Turnaround, Volume and the Portal
Every steel frame certification carries a stated turnaround, confirmed when we accept the job (see our services for current turnarounds). The clock starts when we receive the complete structural framing details listed below, because every member, bracing panel and hold-down is checked against them, along with the truss reactions where the frame carries trusses. Paid priority is available for a frame that has to be on site sooner, with the surcharge shown and agreed before booking.
Suppliers send many frames, so the portal is built for it. One login shows every job at every address, the stage each one has reached and the certificates already issued, and your detailers can be added under the company account. We keep one file per address. If we have already designed the footings or the beams for a house, the frame certification sits in the same file, so the hold-downs can be checked against the slab they fix into. Request portal access, or see how the client portal works and what it gives you.
What to Send for Certification
To quote or certify a frame, send the site address and the full frame design package from your software. That usually means:
- wall, floor and roof frame layouts with the member schedule
- the bracing layout and the hold-down and tie-down details
- the truss layout and reactions from the truss designer
- the wind classification the frame was designed for, and the design report if your software produces one
- the architectural drawings and, if available, the footing design
Questions on a certified frame, from your detailers, the builder or the certifier, go to the engineer who checked it. For how certification fits into building consent, see planning and building consent in SA, and confirm the specific requirements with the council or private certifier.
Related Pages for Builders
These pages cover the other kinds of builder work we take on:
- Volume and project home builders
- Renovation, extension and custom builders
- Pools, sheds, carports and retaining walls
- How we work with builders and the full list of services
- Structural engineering questions, answered
This page is general information about structural engineering in South Australia, not advice for a specific site. Every job is priced for its own site and scope, and you get a fixed fee in writing before any work starts.