Technical Guidance Note (Level 2, No. 2): Designing a steel column

This guidance note describes the different types of pile presently in use, the design concepts that are employed when determining their size and depth, how they are constructed and the various tests that can be carried out to assess a pile's integrity.

This Technical Guidance Note covers the inspection of structural elements that are typically present within buildings during their construction and/or alteration phases.

Thin panels of masonry in large buildings, or cavity wall skins, require additional horizontal support to make them stable. The element that provides this support is a vertical prop known as a ‘windpost’. Its principal role is to provide lateral support against destabilising horizontal forces that typically originate from wind pressure – hence, the name. Windposts are typically steel elements – either open sections, such as channels or angles, or closed sections, such as rolled hollow rectangular sections. This Technical Guidance Note provides guidance on the design and detailing of windposts relating to their incorporation into building structures.