Glossary
Names for the technology
Section titled “Names for the technology”Light Gauge Steel. The most widespread abbreviation in the industry.
Cold-Formed Steel. Used by North American literature and standards. The same technology.
Thin-walled, cold-formed steel
Section titled “Thin-walled, cold-formed steel”The precise term in Hungarian technical language. The Eurocodes work in this frame too: EN 1993-1-3 gives rules for cold-formed members and sheeting.
The broader terms
Section titled “The broader terms”Lightweight construction
Section titled “Lightweight construction”Framed construction, where load-bearing sits on a sparse frame and linings close the space. The frame can be steel or timber. So “a lightweight house” does not tell you the technology.
This matters in regulation too: the Hungarian fire regulation has a separate provision for lightweight technology. The concept of lightweight technology.
Framing
Section titled “Framing”Refers to the method of building, as opposed to solid masonry or monolithic construction.
Drylining
Section titled “Drylining”Construction without wet trades, using board linings. Plasterboarding belongs here, and it is not a load-bearing structure. Why it is not drywall profile.
Names of the members
Section titled “Names of the members”- Stud: the vertical load-bearing member of a wall panel.
- Track: the bottom and top member holding the panel together.
- Joist: the horizontal member of a floor.
- Truss: the triangulated roof member.
- Jamb: the reinforced stud beside an opening.
- Header: the member transferring load over an opening.
- Bracing: the member taking horizontal loads.
- Panel: the prefabricated unit of the wall structure.
What gets mixed up most often
Section titled “What gets mixed up most often”“Lightweight” as a quality label
Section titled ““Lightweight” as a quality label”The word denotes a structural system, not a quality. “Light” refers to mass, not to durability.
“Steelwork”
Section titled ““Steelwork””In everyday speech this often means a hot-rolled portal-frame building. LGS is steelwork too, but a different family. Cold-formed and hot-rolled.
“Fast house”, “kit house”
Section titled ““Fast house”, “kit house””Commercial names, not technical terms. They do not say what the structure is, or whether it is made of prefabricated panels or a site-erected frame — and that difference has legal consequences.
The point
Section titled “The point”Most misunderstandings are about words. At the start of a project, settle what each party means by “lightweight” — because the legal and technical consequences differ.
Design and production terms
Section titled “Design and production terms”- Machine program — the file passed to the production line’s controller: per element, where to cut and punch, and to what length. See Machine programs: CSV or RFY?
- CSV — a plain-text, tabular machine-program format; most production lines take it.
- RFY — FRAMECAD’s machine-program format; the same information, different logic.
- Panel drawing — element-by-element production and assembly drawing.
- Position number — an element’s unique ID; it is also on the manufactured profile.
- NMÉ — Hungarian National Technical Assessment; ETA — European Technical Assessment. See NMÉ, ETA, CE.