PFC sections are widely used as lintels above door and window openings, as beams supporting floor joists, and as columns, edge beams and trimmers in steel-framed structures. They are also common in fabrication work — stair stringers, machine frames, equipment bases and heavy brackets — and as purlins and girts in warehouses and industrial buildings.

For a single-leaf opening, a channel usually has a bottom plate welded to it so the outer brickwork can bear on the steel. For a cavity wall, two channels are commonly bolted back to back with 100 mm spacers between them, allowing both leaves of the wall to be supported by one assembly. We can supply either arrangement fabricated and ready to install.

A Universal Beam has an I-shaped section, symmetrical about its centre, and carries load equally on both sides of the web. A PFC is open on one side, giving a flat back and an accessible channel. Where a UB is the usual choice for a clear span, a PFC suits positions where one face needs to sit flush against another surface, or where the open profile makes connections and bolting easier.

Yes. We cut PFC to any length you specify and can drill holes to your setting-out, weld on bottom plates, end plates and base plates, make up back-to-back assemblies with spacers, and apply protective or decorative finishes before dispatch.

Older channel sections were rolled with tapered flanges, which meant bolts, packers and cleats had to be shimmed or shaped to sit square. Parallel flanges have a consistent thickness across their width, so fixings bed flat, connections go together without special washers, and fabrication is quicker and more accurate.