Technical Guidance Note (Level 2, No. 21): Design and detailing of base plates to steel columns

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.)

The subject of this guide is the design of columns in simple construction to BS EN 1993-1-1 – Eurocode 3: Design of Steel Structures – Part 1-1: General Rules for Buildings. It covers rolled steel ‘I’ and ‘H’ sections that are acting as columns within a braced steel frame structure.

The subject of this guide is the design of one way spanning concrete slabs to BS EN 1992-1-1 – Eurocode 2: Design of Concrete Structures – Part 1-1: General Rules for Buildings. The design of such elements is very simple to carry out and thus acts as a good introduction to the concept of reinforced concrete.