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Designers: Update to SFIA’s 2025 Tech Guide for the Latest CFS Load and Span Tables

A comprehensive tool for designing with cold‐formed steel (CFS) framing, the newly updated SFIA Technical Guide 2025.1 provides information that meets the 2024 International Building Code, the 2022 California Building Code and the 2020 Florida Building Code.

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Editor’s note: This post, originally published in February 2022, was updated in November 2025.

The Technical Committee of the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) has released Version 2025.1 of the SFIA Technical Guide for Cold‐Formed Steel Framing Products or SFIA Product Technical Guide. Users should update to version 2025.1, which includes minor corrections and formatting updates.

SFIA Technical Guide for Cold‐Formed Steel

The SFIA Product Technical Guide helps architects, engineers, specification writers and contractors to comply with the latest building codes and standards. The guide is the most up-to-date cold-formed steel (CFS) framing guide available in North America. It meets the requirements of the 2024 International Building Code (IBC), the 2022 California Building Code and the 2020 Florida Building Code.

“The guide provides users with the latest load and span tables and other information for standard steel framing products,” says Don Allen, SFIA executive director. “It helps ensure that designs and installations comply with the latest codes.”

The SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products, version 2025.1 (November 2025), is applicable to the 2024 IBC and to newer versions of the California and Florida buildings codes.

The SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products, version 2025.1 (November 2025), is applicable to the 2024 IBC and to newer versions of the California and Florida buildings codes.

Guide Based on AISI S100-16/S2-20

The American Iron and Steel Institute’s AISI S100-16/S2-20, “North American Specification for the Design of Cold-Formed Steel Structural Members,” serves as the basis for the SFIA guide’s data.  SFIA’s guide meets the requirements of several key building codes:

  • The 2024 International Building Code (IBC)
  • The 2022 California Building Code
  • The 2020 Florida Building Code
Sample table from SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products, version 2025.1, provides Non-Structural (S) Stud Section Properties.

The SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products contains important tables.

NEW: The SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products, version 2025.1, includes images to illustrate points.

NEW: The SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products, version 2025.1, includes images to illustrate points.

“We’ve updated the properties tables and the comparisons,” says Patrick Ford, SFIA technical director. “The guide is the perfect tool for engineers and others designing with cold-formed steel.”

The SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products, version 2025.1, includes diagrams and notes to explain typical details such as joist bridging.

The SFIA Technical Guide for Cold-Formed Steel Framing Products features diagrams and notes to explain typical details.

The Product Technical Guide supports the steel industry’s standard nomenclature. The AISI General Provisions, S200, Section A5.2, specifies the use of a four-part product designator. The designator identifies member depth, style, flange width and material thickness:

The Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) supports the industry standard nomenclature published in the American Iron and Steel Institutes’s General Provisions, S202, section E4.

The Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) supports the nomenclature backed by the American Iron and Steel Institutes’s General Provisions, S202, section E4.

Download the SFIA Product Technical Guide free of charge from SFIA’s Technical Publications page.

 

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Steel Framing Industry Association

The Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA), a unique, ANSI-accredited standards development organization represents steel mills, coil coaters, stud and connector manufacturers, component fabricators, Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) engineers, suppliers/distributors, contractors and others. The SFIA provides its members with exclusive access to technical cold-formed steel (CFS) framing services, including CFS certification, environmental product declarations, market data, technical publications, specification review services, architectural services, the Steel Framing Learning Portal, the SFIA Awards and more.

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Additional Resources

* A concerted effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the technical data. This apples to all information in the Steel Framing Industry Association (SFIA) Technical Guide for Cold‐Formed Steel Framing Products. SFIA makes no representation, warranty, or guarantee in connection with this technical data. SFIA also expressly disclaims any liability or responsibility for failure resulting from the use or misapplication of computations, detail drawings and specifications contained herein. All data, specifications and details contained in this publication are intended as a general guide for using SFIA member companies’ products. These products should not be used in design or construction without an independent evaluation by a qualified engineer or architect to verify the suitability of a particular product for use in a specific application. This publication contains the latest information available. The SFIA and its member companies reserve the right to make modifications and/or change materials of any of their products without prior notice or obligation. For the latest information regarding a particular manufacturer’s products, contact that manufacturer. Not all SFIA manufacturers produce products listed in this publication. Please contact the specific manufacturer to verify product availability.