FIS Technical Director Joe Cilia, presented the Specifiers’ Guide to SFS External Wall Systems at Clerkenwell Design Week focussing on the importance of early collaboration with manufacturers when specifying Steel Framing Systems.

The Guide was produced by the FIS SFS working group made up of manufacturers and installers of SFS external wall systems in conjunction with the Steel Construction Institute (SCI), which provide an independent source of information and engineering expertise in steel construction. It is intended to guide architects, engineers, designers and installers through the stages in designing, selecting and specifying steel framed systems to form the external envelope for steel and concrete framed buildings.

The guide includes 23 questions relating to ‘critical building information’, a further 15 questions to check that they are all addressed, a list of 10 questions on risk and how to avoid them and a further 10 questions on writing a smart specification to ensure a safe, compliant and complete specification can be written. All of which is crucial to ensure that the specification is not open to misinterpretation, and that any alternatives can be assessed and checked as equal, before approving them.

The guide sits alongside other FIS best practice guides that relate to SFS:

Design and Installation of Light Steel External Wall Systems

Recommendations for the Safe Ingress of Plasterboard

Health and safety handbook

You can watch FIS Technical Director Joe Cilia as he summarises the key leaning points in the guide here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cSElFKJuhQ