Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings - A Guide for Engineers and Architects - Purpose and Definitions

Oct 28, 2026

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A practical guideline for engineers and architects working with pre-engineered metal buildings (PEMB) who lack manufacturer design experience. It outlines the document’s purpose, explains coordination and project management rather than classical structural engineering, and highlights differences among metal building suppliers. It also introduces key PEMB terminology, including clear/eave/frame heights, girt and purlin concepts, nominal eave allowances, and the structure line that defines building dimensions for ordering and specification.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryTechnology

FormatPDF

Pages25

Reading Time1 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose

Preface

Definitions

Overview of PEMB

Suppliers

Specifying and Attaching Point Loads

Foundations and Cranes

Measuring Existing PEMB

Questions for Discussion

Attachments

Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings A Guide for Engineers and Architects December 13, 2002 1) Purpose 2) Preface 3) Definitions 4) Overview of PEMB 5) Suppliers (Important) 6) Specifying (Important) 7) Attaching point loads 8) Foundations 9) Cranes 10) Measuring existing PEMB for assessing structural capacity 11) Questions for discussion 12) Attachments PURPOSE Provide an “informal” document as a guideline for engineers and architects who must work with Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings (PEMB) on their projects but have not had design experience working for a PEMB manufacturer. For anyone not familiar with PEMBs, I suggest getting a copy of “Metal Building Systems, Design and Specifications” by Alexander Newman. I found this book to be fairly good and cover a wide range of the MB systems. The balance of this document will be based around the 2002 Metal Building Systems Manual (by MBMA) . This book is considered tobe a building code itself although it only covers MBs. Had there been a college course in engineering covering Metal Buildings, these 2 books would most likely have been the required textbooks for the course. The term Metal Building (MB) is to be used synonymously with the term Pre-Engineered Metal Building (PEMB) . PREFACE This is the 2nd version of a rough draft and is not complete at this time. This is offered for discussion. These are predominantly my own experiences with metal buildings. I apologize in advance for any poor grammar or sentence structure. I speak the King’s English, the King being Elvis. I am intentionally writing this document loosely because I am not addressing structural engineering in the classical sense. This is more about coordination, planning and project management. Metal building manufacturers are not all the same although they appear to be on the surface. I know most of you think the term“conservative” does not appear to go with MB systems but “within the world of MB companies, some are more conservative than others”. I know there are several really good suppliers and there are suppliers that have lesser services or offer a lesser product. There is a need for a wide variety of suppliers because the projects vary widely. There is a huge difference in a tractor shed and a sophisticated distribution facility. One is very simple and can be supplied by most anyone but the other can be very complex and requires a supplier in the middle to upper end. In addition to this, the local Metal Building Supplier who actually has the building franchise can be a huge factor. DEFINITIONS See the Glossary of the 2002 Metal Buildings Systems Manual for terms not contained in this document. The current glossary appears to need more emphasis in some areas. The following additional terms need to be added to the 2002 MBSM . Terms shown below that that are not underlined are used in this document, but the definition is found in the 2002 MBSM . Actual Clear Height: Distance from Finished Floor to the underside of the lowest point of the roof beam (rafter) . Actual Eave Height: Distance from Finished Floor to the top of the eave member (eave strut) or eave roof structural. This height DOES NOT include the thickness of the roof panel. Collateral Load: See 2002MBSM Frame Height: Distance from Finished Floor to the top of the steel beam/rafter at the eave of the building. Girt: (AKA Wall girt, wall structural, wall secondary) A structural member that spans horizontally between steel frames that the wall panels attach to. Can be cold-formed or mill steel. Cold-formed Zs and Cs can be used. Cold-formed Zs can be lapped to create a continuous member whereas Cs are typically simple span. Similar to a Purlin but Girts are used for walls. Nominal Eave Height: Distance from Finished Floor to some fictitious distance above the eave of the steel frame. For example, one company uses 12” above the steel frame. This is a 12” allowance for the roof structural (purlin) an

FAQs

What is the purpose of this PEMB guide?

It serves as an informal guideline for engineers and architects who must work with pre-engineered metal buildings on projects without prior PEMB manufacturer design experience.

How does the preface describe the document’s focus?

It emphasizes coordination, planning, and project management based largely on personal experiences, rather than addressing structural engineering in the classical sense.

Why is the “Structure Line (SL)” important in PEMB projects?

SL refers to the exterior face of the wall girt system and is used to determine PEMB length and width; real dimensions include additional allowance for wall panel thickness.

Oct 28, 2026

Upload by Putri