Company Announcement - The response of contractors to the Light Steel Frame Building training courses presented by SASFA is testament to the growing popularity of the LSFB method in South Africa. This is according to SASFA director John Barnard. “We recently successfully presented our 6-day contractors training course to a full house for the 17th time!” says Barnard. “The fact is that this course has grown significantly in popularity as an expanding number of building contractors, developers, architects and engineers become increasingly interested in learning about LSFB - because of the demand on them to use the method as a building solution.

The most recent course had 16 participants bringing to 281 the total number of students who have successfully completed the programme since its inception in 2009.

The course is split into two sections:
• Steel frame components, and erection (4 days), covering introduction, the steel making process, properties of coated steel sheet, foundations, manufacturing of light steel frames and trusses, construction tools, wallframe set-out, handling, loads, floor framing, wall framing, roof structures, and the installation of services.

• Internal lining, external cladding and insulation (1½ days), covering the properties, manufacturing and benefits of glasswool insulation, acoustics, energy efficiency, environmental issues, storage and handling of Glasswool, tools and installation methodology. This is followed by a section on gypsum plasterboard covering properties, storage and handling, cutting, tools and application for walls, ceilings and finishing. Finally, fibre cement board for external cladding is addressed, including the  installation of the vapour permeable membrane,  sizes and availability of fibre cement - boards and planks, fixing accessories, installation guidelines, and door and window frame installation detail is presented.

Barnard says that to ensure that the theoretical concepts are well understood, the course includes a practical component, consisting of setting out of wall frames, squaring, levelling, and erection of walls, erection of roof trusses, installation of plumbing, external cladding (FC boards, OSB and FC planks), insulation and internal lining (gypsum board), and internal joint finishing. “Finally, it is illustrated how difficult it is to make a hole in 15mm thick gypsum board, and how easy and quick it is to repair,” he says.

Students generally come from all over the country for this course and usually have had prior building industry experience.

Barnard made special mention of the SASFA members who give their support to the course. We could not do this without Lafarge Gypsum, Everite, Saint Gobain, Global Innovative Building Systems, Marshall Hinds, Kare and Simpson Strong-tie and Bosch Tools. ”We thank them for their support and time,” concluded Barnard. SASFA is planning to present the course in Durban, in July, and Cape Town, in September. Indicate your interest to attend by e-mail to info@sasfa.co.za