Tech Note B001-25: How Cold-Formed Steel Framing is Produced
$30.00
Reaffirmed December 2025
Summary: Cold-formed steel seems like a fairly simple product when you are holding it in your hand, but as you can see, there are many production steps involving things like mining iron ore out of the ground, creating molten steel, furnaces above 2,000°F, reduction mills imparting forces in excess of 100,000 pounds per square inch, and hydrochloric acid cleaning baths before it even reaches the roll forming stage. This Tech Note provides a basic outline of the processes involved in producing the products you work with daily, be it manufacturing, drafting, designing, engineering, installing or demolishing a building at the end of its life cycle.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Related Products
Tech Note F501-11: Cold-Formed Steel Truss To Bearing Connections
Summary: This Technical Note is intended as general educational information and to highlight what the building designer should be aware of with regard to truss to bearing connections. Topics addressed include what loads due to wind truss to bearing connections may have to resist, who is ultimately responsible for truss to bearing connection design, general guidance on the design of truss to bearing connections, and an illustrative design example. Loads due to seismic forces are not addressed in this Technical Note.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Tech Note G801-13: ASTM A1003 – No Cause for Rejection
Summary: Building codes and design standards that reference ASTM International (ASTM) A1003 standard for cold-formed steel framing products have the potential to cause confusion and project delays for those who are unfamiliar with the requirements of this new material standard. This Technical Note, first published in 2008, provides a comparison of the requirements of A1003 with the more familiar standards traditionally used for cold-formed steel framing products, and demonstrates that steel ordered or furnished to the old standards should be no cause for rejection. The 2013 revision references a change to the requirements of ASTM A1003 regarding material thickness when ordering or supplying steel sheet.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Tech Note F100-23: Design of Clip Angle Bearing Stiffeners
Summary: Clip angles are commonly used in cold-formed steel constructions to attach floor joists to the rim track. Clip angles can also work as bearing stiffeners to reinforce the web crippling strength of the floor joists at the bearing locations. As the length of the clip angle may significantly influence the floor joist web crippling strength, it is critical to ensure the minimum length of the clip angle in design.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Tech Note 562-22: Powder-Actuated Fasteners in Cold-Formed Steel Construction
This Technical Note updates and replaces Tech Note 562
Summary: Power-actuated fasteners (PAF’s) are industry standard for attachment of cold-formed steel (CFS) steel framing members, usually track, to concrete, CMU or steel structural elements. “Power-actuated” is the broad category used to refer to fasteners which are driven directly through the CFS and into the substrate, using a powder, gas, compressed air or electro-mechanically driven tool. Efficient installation of framing systems is greatly enhanced by the use of PAF’s. For CFS-to-steel applications, the specification AISI S100 addresses all relevant limit states with equations and safety/ resistance factors. For CFS-to-concrete, limited guidance is provided but not all limit states are covered. This technical note will provide design guidance based on AISI S100, as well as installation and good detailing practice.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Tech Note W200-23: Header Design
This Tech Note Updates and Replaces Tech Note W200-09
Summary: AISI S240, North American Standard for Cold-Formed Steel Structural Framing provides provisions needed to design headers over door and window openings in buildings. AISI S240 Section B3.3 – Header Design reflects the appropriate design procedures for back-to-back headers, box headers, and Single, Double and Inverted L-headers subject to gravity loads or wind uplift loads. This Technical Note provides additional recommendations and design examples intended to supplement the AISI S240 header provisions.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Tech Note L300-23: Design of End Posts for Diaphragm Shear Walls: A Perspective
This Tech Note Updates and Replaces Tech Note L300-09
Summary: This Tech Note provides a rational engineering analysis that may replace assumptions that are commonly used and that may be overly conservative. The content of this Tech Note is based upon information in engineering literature, in particular Timoshenko & Gere, Theory of Elastic Stability and upon engineering judgment.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Tech Note L101-23: Design of Cold-Formed Steel Sheet and Wood Structural Panel Sheathed Shear Walls for Wind and Seismic Forces
Summary: This Technical Note provides an overview of low seismic and wind-controlled steel sheet and wood structural panel sheathed cold-formed steel (CFS) framed shear wall designs. It is a digest of the AISI D113-19, Cold-Formed Steel Shear Wall Design Guide and presents a more basic overview of design considerations. Sample shear wall capacity and loading comparisons are provided. For detailed design examples, refer to the AISI D113-19.
Code references are limited to AISI S240-15, North American Standard for Cold-Formed Steel Structural Framing; more detailed references, including AISI S400-15, North American Standard for Seismic Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Systems for high seismic design requirements can be found in the AISI D113-19.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.
Tech Note W103-23: Design of By-Pass Slip Connectors in Cold-Formed Steel Construction
This Tech Note Updates and Replaces Tech Note W103-11
Summary: A curtain wall can be defined as a non-vertically loaded exterior wall (aside from self weight) supported by the primary structural frame of the building. When it comes to cold-formed steel framing, this definition can encompass a great many possible assemblies and applications. This Tech Note discusses the various structural elements of a curtain wall system and introduces the subjects of Design Loads and Framing Analysis.
Disclaimer: Designs cited herein are not intended to preclude the use of other materials, assemblies, structures or designs when these other designs demonstrate equivalent performance for the intended use. CFSEI documents are not intended to exclude the use and implementation of any other design or construction technique.