STRUCTURAL STRENGTH FOR THE BUILDING ENVELOPE
Complete structural steelwork packages — designed, fabricated and installed by SFDC
At SFDC, we bring specialist expertise and technical precision to every project. As your dedicated building envelope partner, we integrate our hot rolled steel capabilities seamlessly into your programme — delivering quality-assured systems on time, on budget, and fully compliant with the latest industry standards.
OVERVIEW
SFDC delivers hot rolled structural steelwork as a complete package — structural design, detailing, in-house fabrication, delivery and installation — engineered to work as one with the building envelope that follows. From lintels, restraint systems and secondary steelwork to full structural frames, our steelwork is manufactured to BS EN 1090 Execution Class 3 and installed by the same team that fabricated it. Our own workshop gives us capacity for 40 to 50 tonnes of steelwork a week, with direct control of coating, delivery and installation, so we manufacture to your drawings and install to your programme. Fabrication drawings resolve connections, brackets and envelope interfaces before cutting begins. Members are checked against the fabrication drawings before dispatch.
YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
Structural steelwork sits at the start of almost every envelope package, and it is where programme risk is either created or removed. By keeping the design, fabrication and installation of the steelwork in-house — and combining it with our SFS, facade, cladding, roofing and fire protection capabilities — SFDC removes the interfaces that cause delay when separate subcontractors are responsible for connected systems. Members are cut, drilled, welded and coated in our own workshop and then delivered and installed by the same team that built them — directly employed installation teams, slingers, MEWP operators, coded welders and supervisors. One package, one team, one point of accountability from the first drawing through to practical completion.
RANGE OF FEATURES
Our engineers and detailing team develop the structural design and fabrication drawings from your engineer's specification, resolving connections, penetrations and envelope interfaces before steelwork is cut, with setting-out and bolt schedules issued for approval.
Steelwork is fabricated to BS EN 1090 Execution Class 3 in our own workshop, where capacity for 40 to 50 tonnes a week is served by two 7.5 tonne overhead cranes and dimensional accuracy, weld quality and finish are controlled under an ISO 9001 quality management system.
Our directly employed steel installation teams, slingers, MEWP operators and coded welders install the frame, so installation sequences and site resource are set by us rather than by another contractor's availability or programme. Site supervision is ours, not subcontracted.
Because we also deliver the SFS framing, facades, cladding and roofing that follow the frame, the steelwork is designed as part of one coordinated envelope package with no interface left unresolved. Brackets, rails and penetration details are agreed with the envelope team.
IN DEPTH
Hot rolled structural steelwork forms the primary frame of a building and the point at which the structure, the facade and the internal fit-out all meet. SFDC delivers the complete package: structural design and fabrication detailing, fabrication to BS EN 1090 Execution Class 3 (EXC3) in our own workshop, delivery to site in installation sequence, and installation by our directly employed steel installation teams, slingers, MEWP operators and coded welders. Universal beams and columns, lattice and compound members, lintels and structural openings, secondary steelwork, eaves beams, cladding rails, stairs and balustrades are all fabricated and installed under a single contract, in full compliance with BS EN 1993 Eurocode 3 and the National Structural Steelwork Specification. Delivering the steelwork as one package, with one team, removes the coordination risk and programme exposure that arise when a frame is split across several contractors.
Because SFDC also designs and installs the SFS framing, facades, cladding, roofing and passive fire protection that follow the frame, our steelwork is detailed with the finished envelope in mind. Facade restraint brackets, cladding rail positions, roof edge details and service penetration locations are resolved on the fabrication drawings before a single beam is cut, rather than being worked out on site after the frame is standing. For main contractors and developers that means fewer RFIs, fewer site instructions and no interface disputes between the frame and the envelope. Steel is delivered to match the installation sequence and our supervisors coordinate cranage, deliveries and sequencing directly with the main contractor's programme.
Steelwork that is fabricated by one company and installed by another is where programmes are lost and responsibility becomes difficult to pin down. SFDC carries out both: we fabricate structural frames, beams, columns and secondary steelwork in our own workshop, prepare and coat the members, deliver them to site and install them with our own contractors. Every member is fabricated to BS EN 1090 Execution Class 3 (EXC3) and designed in accordance with BS EN 1993 Eurocode 3, with coded MIG/MAG welding to approved procedures, drilling, punching and profile cutting all carried out in-house. Because the same team fabricates and installs the steel, dimensional queries are resolved by the people who cut the steel — and delivery dates are set by our own workshop capacity rather than by an external supplier.
Our fabrication workshop has capacity for 40 to 50 tonnes of structural steelwork per week, served by two 7.5 tonne overhead cranes. Alongside complete steelwork packages, that capacity is available to main contractors and other steelwork contractors who need members manufactured to their drawings — including beams and columns, secondary steelwork, SHS, RHS and CHS sections, stairs, balustrades, connections and fittings, batch and repeat fabrication for phased schemes, and painted or coated finishes delivered nationwide. On site, our directly employed resource covers structural steel installation, secondary steelwork and cladding rail installation, metal decking, precast installation, on-site welding and modifications, remedial and alteration works, and additional labour to recover a programme — including installation teams and fabricators, slinger/signallers, MEWP operators, coded welders and supervisors.
WE ENSURE QUALITY
Steelwork packages are run on a single fabrication and installation programme. Members are fabricated in installation sequence, coated and loaded to suit the site sequence and delivered by our own transport, and installed by the same supervisors who controlled their fabrication. Cranage, deliveries and installation sequences are planned in detail with the main contractor to keep the frame — and everything that follows it — on programme, and any dimensional or design query is answered by the team that cut the steel.
All SFDC structural steelwork is designed in accordance with BS EN 1993 Eurocode 3 and fabricated to BS EN 1090 with Execution Class 3 (EXC3) capability, under an ISO 9001 quality management system. Welding is carried out by coded MIG/MAG welders working to approved welding procedures, with the required weld inspection and testing. Full structural calculations, fabrication drawings, CE marking, material certificates, weld inspection records and O&M documentation are provided at handover.
IN-HOUSE CAPACITY & SITE RESOURCE
Alongside complete steelwork packages, SFDC makes its fabrication capacity and site installation resource available to main contractors and other steelwork contractors. Whether you need members manufactured to your drawings, coated and delivered to site, or an experienced installation team and supervision, both come from our own workshop and our directly employed teams.
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES
"Having the frame fabricated and installed by one contractor removed a whole layer of coordination risk. Deliveries matched the installation sequence every week and the frame went up without a single hold."
Contracts Manager, Industrial Main Contractor
"Their detailing team resolved the facade interfaces on the fabrication drawings before the steel was even cut. That is not what we are used to from a steelwork contractor."
Structural Engineer, Multi-disciplinary Practice
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