“Specialist cold roll-forming company Metsec has added a new slotted head deflection track to its site fixed Steel Framing System (SFS) portfollio.”

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Specialist cold roll-forming company Metsec has added a new slotted head deflection track to its site fixed Steel Framing System (SFS) portfolio. The new track does away with the requirement for additional deflection head brackets in the infill panel frame, reducing costs and simplifying assembly.

Metsec’s SFS is a fast track infill panel frame system for exterior walls on steel or concrete-frame buildings. It is manufactured from lightweight, cold rolled galvanised steel sections which are manufactured, cut to length and bar-coded offsite ready to be simply screwed together on site. SFS is ideal for projects where the speed of construction and / or a lightweight frame is required, or where masonry blockwork is too slow or too heavy. Metsec’s technical teams assist with detailing stud size, spacing and anchorage which are all determined by floor-to-floor heights, deflection criteria and lateral wind pressures.

Metsec’s new slotted head track is fixed to the soffit of the building frame opening, and vertical studs are screwed directly to the track with no additional components – the slotted design accommodates any deflection in the building frame without transferring loads to the infill panel or the rest of the frame.

The simplified Metsec design along with a free specialist SFS installer training programme (from Metsec) significantly reduce the risk of delays on site, and with no additional components there is no possibility of compromise during site fixing reducing the risk of “unofficial” de-specification on site.

Metsec plc Framing Divisional Director, Peter Watkins, says, “It’s the first time this design has been available in the UK. For the installer the slotted head track delivers real time savings; for the specifier it is just one additional detail that makes the Metsec infill panel frame system even more attractive than masonry.”

Glasgow-based contractor Veitchi Interiors has been trialling the slotted head track since March this year at a number of high-rise apartment developments. Director Colin Kennedy is delighted with the new Metsec product. He says, “It’s worked really well. It is quicker, more efficient, simpler to install and there are economic benefits too. It’s the best way forward.”Metsec’s slotted head track was formally launched in June. The track, manufactured from 2mm thick steel sections, will initially be available in standard three- and four-metre lengths in widths of 104, 154 and 204mm.

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