Advances in Design and Materials Keep Cold-Formed Steel Growing

by David Flaherty | 10 June 2025 9:38 am

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When Mike Lynch and his wife planned to build their dream cabin, they encountered an issue with their initial design. Their property sits on a bluff 2,134 m (7,000 ft) above sea level outside Payson, Ariz. They’re 40 minutes from the nearest fire station, and the last several miles of that journey are unpaved, gravel roads.

“I’m in one of the most dangerous fire zones in Arizona,” said Lynch. “We had a wood-framed house designed and into the county for approval. I put a halt to it when they changed our ISO rating to a 9-10, which is the worst possible rating. Homeowners around here were losing their insurance.”

Lynch investigated another option he recalled from his days in the building materials industry: cold-formed steel. He made a few calls and found a company in Arizona called NuEco Systems[2] that was eager to partner with him

“My company sold cold-formed buildings, but I did not have a lot of hands-on experience,” says Lynch. “I liked that it was kind of a do-it-yourself thing. There’s different terminology when you’re coming from a stick frame mentality, but once you figure that part out, it’s very easy.”

Known by many brand names in the industry, cold-formed steel buildings use components traditionally used as secondary members to form the main frame. Cees and zees, or purlins[3] and girts, are bolted and screwed together with proprietary bracketry and strapping. No welding is required.

Videos of cold-formed building construction projects sometimes raise eyebrows on YouTube, especially among seasoned red iron builders.

“A strong wind will knock that building over in a second!” wrote one.

“Looks nice, but it would be stronger if you [welded] it,” wrote another.

Take a closer look, and it is clear that cold-formed buildings are engineered to meet the same, rigid standards as any red iron building. Cold-formed steel homes, warehouses, garages, and more can be found from the heavy snow regions of the Pacific Northwest to the strict hurricane regions of Florida.

It is no wonder more and more rollformers are adding cold-formed steel buildings to their product offerings. It has opened the door for manufacturers who previously sold components for larger steel buildings to offer complete building kits. With an average production turnaround time of two to four weeks, customers could purchase a fully engineered steel building and receive it on site much faster than they could get a red iron or wood frame building.

One of the biggest advances with cold-formed buildings is the size of components. Initially, a 305 mm (12 in.) cee in 12-gauge was the heaviest material most rollformers could provide. The standard today is a 508 mm (20 in.) or 610 mm (24 in.) cee in 10 gauge. Larger components enabled significant changes to engineering. The maximum spans on buildings increased from 12.2 to 15.3 m (40 to 50 ft) clear span to 21.3 to 27.4 m (90 to 100 ft)

Greater clear spans are one of the biggest selling points with cold-formed steel. Fewer columns mean more flexibility inside, giving buyers more freedom to lay out their floor plans versus stick and tube frame buildings.

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The components used to assemble cold-formed building frames continue to evolve as well. One of the frequent criticisms cold-formed dealers hear is about the knee and apex braces some buyers see as unsightly. While many creative buyers find ways to hide or highlight the braces, others would just as soon not see them at all.

Last year, a new system of haunch and apex brackets was introduced that eliminates knee and apex braces altogether. While they are not yet compatible with all building sizes, these brackets offer improved aesthetics on the inside and a simpler installation process, as erectors no longer need to field cut the channels used for knee and apex brace

Which brings us to another innovation: the ease of construction. As previously mentioned, cold-formed steel buildings require no welding. All framing members are connected by bolts, brackets, and screws, and bolted components come pre-punched from the factory. Erectors can use a less-skilled crew on cold-formed buildings than red iron, and the lighter framing members mean teams can often get away with less heavy equipment onsite during erection.

This simplicity makes cold-formed buildings ideal for DIYers. A classic example is this simple garage in Bunnell, Fla., sold by AmeriBuilt Steel Structures.

Mike Conner, or “Captain Mike” to his friends, is a retired yacht captain who purchased a cold-formed, gambrel barndominium with his wife. While their new home was under construction, their neighbor asked if it might be possible to purchase a cold-formed steel garage. Conner helped his neighbor design and purchase the building. Working with the rented equipment already on site, Conner and his wife teamed up with their neighbor to erect the garage.

“It went together easily,” said Conner. “Six days after it arrived, we had it built and dried in. Three of us—ages 76, 77, and 78 years old. We called ourselves ‘Geriatric Construction.’”

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Mike Lynch also elected to build his Arizona cabin himself instead of hiring a contractor. “I had a friend help me. We sat down and read through the instructions. When we got to it, I thought it was very easy. It’s just a big adult Lego kit.”

Contractors who build with cold-formed steel also find the ease of construction to be a huge advantage. Nathan Margosian, founder of NatMar Construction in Colorado[6], built his entire business around cold-formed. His first exposure to this product happened as a building contractor just a few years ago. He now runs two crews during the busy season, working at the same time on separate projects.

“There’s some learning curve with cold-formed, but if you have any experience with metal buildings and know how to use tools correctly, it goes quick,” said Margosian. “My lead guy went from knowing nothing about cold-formed to running his own crew in less than six months. He doesn’t even need me on site anymore.”

The pursuit of ease continues in all aspects of cold-formed. New innovations allow dealers to get stamped, full engineering drawings on buildings faster than ever. Engineers in Canada are coming online as well. Applications like roof-only designs for containers and wraparound porches will soon go from custom to standard.

Manufacturers continue to upgrade their equipment as demand for bigger, stronger buildings soars. Construction techniques improve as erectors share best practices. And efforts are ramping up to lobby code boards and architects to expand opportunities for cold-formed even further.

John Wilson, a long-time fixture in the steel building industry, is part of a team pushing for the formation of the Cold Formed Steel Building Association[7]. He sees a bright future for cold-formed steel ahead. “I was with the self-storage business before it was an industry. Now it’s bigger than the sports industry and the movie industry combined. I think you’re going to see the same thing with cold-formed in the next 20-30 years.”

Wilson loves the flexibility of cold-formed steel and its speed to market. He likes the lightweight components, which are not only easier to handle on site but also easier to load into a container for overseas shipping. But there’s one reason above all others that he believes in cold-formed.

“Last year, across all manufacturers, over a billion dollars was quoted in cold-formed,” said Wilson. “A billion dollars. That’s a magical number. It’s not a small market anymore. That’s a real industry.”

John Cosper is the marketing director for ACT Building Systems and a founding member of the Cold Formed Steel Building Association. He is also the co-host of the Cold Formed Buildings Made Easy Podcast.

Source URL: https://www.metalconstructionnews.com/articles/cold-formed-steel-advancing/

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