The acoustic performance of buildings is an important aspect of design, especially for residential, educational and healthcare buildings. The SCI can assess the acoustic performance of steel construction systems, considering existing data, and if necessary, new acoustic testing. Assessments can be for walls or floors and for light steel framing systems or hot-rolled construction such as composite floors.
Cold-formed steel members are often used as purlins and side rails supporting cladding. The structural performace of such members maybe determined by calculation, or proven by test, in a range of loading situations. Load-span stables are generally provided for use by specifiers.
In fibre reinforced slabs the conventional mesh reinforcement is replaced with steel or polypropylene fibres. The performance of the slabs are determined by a combination of calculation and test.Generally, design the design data published for combinations of deck and fibre reinforcement will be the resistance of the shear studs, the design values for calculating transverse shear reinforcement and load-span tables at elevated temperature.
The limiting temperature of a cellular beam is dependant on the performance of the material used as fire protection. Simple approaches based on plain beams can be unconservative. SCI, the ASFP, fire testing laboratories and intumescent coating manufacturers have developed a testing protocol to enable individual intumescent coating manufacturers to obtain a product specific assessment. Assessments carried out by the SCI take the test data and prepare limiting temperature tables for a range of cellular beam geometries. The required thickness of coating can then be calculated.
Light gauge faming systems may comprise standard systems, or bespoke designs. Both types of systems involve assessment of loads, structural design and selection of appropriate members. SCI Assessment covers all aspects of the system, including the loading, design, temporary conditions connections and if required, the overall frame stability of a series of assembeld units.
This scheme provides ‘Stage 1 – System certification’ of the two stage certification procedure required by NHBC for light steel framed housing. The scheme is open to all manufacturers* of light steel framing systems. The details of the system should be submitted in the form of a system manual which will be assessed by the SCI against the requirements of the NHBC Standards, Chapter 6.10 ‘Light steel framed walls and floors’. * The manufacturer is the company which assembles the steel frame sections to form wall and/or floor panels.
SCI can assess software that has been written for use internally, for release to clients or where output from the software is made available to clients. This will involve a full QA check of all equations, comparing processes used to current SCI guidance, codes and standards, as well as an appraisal of all assumptions made in the calculation procedures and a review of inputs and outputs for clarity. Software can take the form of complete stand-alone packages or procedures produced using spreadsheet packages.