ARTICLES & FEATURES
Nirmala Matmungal has been employed at TTBS for fifteen (15) years, in the capacity of Technician and Officer In Charge in the Laboratory Services Division and Standards Officer within the Product Certification Unit. She is the holder of a BSc Human Ecology (Hons) and MSc in Project Management from the University of the West Indies.
TTCA Quarterly
e-Magazine
Subscribe for more Articles and Features
Cold Formed Steel Framing Members
What enforcement of the standard means to you
Enforcement by the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) of the compulsory national standard- TTS 598:2019 Cold-formed steel framing members for structural applications – Specification (1st Revision), came into effect on September 5, 2022. Before one can appreciate what this enforcement means, the products the standard applies to as well as how it affects various groups, is a good place to start.
What are cold-formed steel framing members?
Cold-formed steel framing members are those steel parts of a building that form its ‘skeleton’ and support all of the other building structures, such as in framing roofs and walls. This steel has a base metal thickness of between 1.00 mm and 3.00 mm, and is formed into sections or shapes, such as girts, truss cords, C-purlins, Z-purlins, U shaped purlins, wall studs and runners, by roll-forming the steel through a series of dies.
What is the standard about and how does it affect the nation’s citizens?
The standard was developed and was found necessary to enforce since purlins are produced using imported material. Additionally, they bear load and influence the resilience of a building, particularly in times of disaster, so they are critical components in built structures.
To the customer purchasing for a building project, the standard is an assurance that the members (purlins, truss chords, studs and runners) available for sale at hardwares are ‘good for use’. That is, they will be of an acceptable product quality and protect the consumer or user against danger to health or safety (provided they are used as intended of course).
To a manufacturer of cold- formed steel framing members, all products which meet the criteria above, that is, used for structural purposes and have a base metal thickness of between 1.00 and 3.00 mm, must meet the minimum requirement outlined in the TTS 598:2019 standard. As such, the enforcement programme requires a demonstration of a level of rigor in the purchasing of raw material, production and operations processes, quality control activities and overall traceability from the raw material to finished product which is delivered to retailers or end users.
But what are the key TTS 598:2019 standard requirements?
The standard outlines that Cold-formed steel framing members shall:
• be manufactured from zinc or aluminium-zinc alloy coated steel sheets with a base metal thickness of 1.00 to 3.00 mm
• have a minimum coating mass of 275 g/m2 for Zinc (Z) coated sheets and 150 g/m2 for Aluminium Zinc (AZ) coated sheets
• have a minimum tensile strength of 320 N/mm2
• Not show visible flaking or cracking of the coating
• be free from visible imperfections and harmful contaminants
Additionally, the labelling requirements that a customer can expect to see present on each member, shall be as follows:
XYZ Ltd 150 x 1.50 x 275 Z350
With, XYZ Ltd representing the Manufacturer Name
150 representing the web depth of the framing member, in millimetres
(equivalent to a 5.9 or 6-inch member)
1.50 representing the base metal thickness value, in millimetres
275 representing the Lower Yield Strength, in N/mm2
Z representing the coating type, Zinc
350 the mass of the coating present, in g/mm2
As such, consumers and homeowners, contractors and other building professionals, including procurement specialists, can identify the properties declared by manufacturers of cold formed products easily.
The names of manufacturers who carry certified products can be verified by visiting https://gottbs.com/
The list states Manufacturers of Certified Cold-Formed Steel Framing Member, with their entire portfolio of certified products under this scheme.
They can also contact us at [email protected] for the most recent listing, as it is currently being populated as manufacturers continue to come on board with the programme.
How are these products regulated?
Cold formed Steel products certified by TTBS Certification Division undergo periodic sampling and product testing by an accredited test facility, auditing and assessment of the manufacturer’s quality management systems to ensure the product quality requirements are being upheld. Market surveillance activities are also conducted to monitor the market activity as well.
Enforcement of the TTS 598:2019 standard by the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) therefore aims to provide a level of trust and confidence in the public domain when purchasing certified products.
