Technical Guidance Note (Level 2, No. 11): Steel fibre reinforced concrete ground bearing slabs

This Technical Guidance Note aims to clarify the term 'simple connection' by explaining its use when designing connections within steel frames. Additionally, guidance is offered on different types of simple connection and the design checks that need to be carried out.

Until relatively recently, masonry was the major load bearing component in a building structure. With the advent of steel and concrete frame technologies, masonry has become a part of a building’s cladding envelope and as such is more prone to being exposed to lateral loads than vertical ones.

This Technical Guidance Note concerns the design of masonry walls that are subject to lateral loads i.e. they are being used as a cladding element. It will discuss the way in which the material is assessed against how it is being restrained and its geometry. All of these factors have an impact on the design of masonry walls as well as the mortar within them and the exposure conditions. This is discussed in Technical Guidance Note 27 (Level 1) and should be read in conjunction with this guide.

(This article was updated in October 2016 to reflect errata issued since its original publication.)

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.