Scope of this guide. Published costs, savings and schedules are indicative examples, not a project quotation or guarantee. Compare the same location, specification and scope. Structural supply, civil works, building services, finishes and logistics must be confirmed separately; permit and engineering requirements depend on the site.
In short
- PEB Corp designs hot-rolled steel structures to AISC 360 and cold-formed steel (CFS) framing, also called light-gauge steel (LGS), to AISI S100-16 (R2020).
- Hot-rolled steel fits buildings driven by overhead cranes, heavy concentrated loads, very long clear spans, or tall eave heights.
- Cold-formed steel fits light, repetitive buildings; within the group, NewCon Steel® makes 0.85–2.5 mm members that are CNC-cut, punched, and labeled.
- The two systems are often combined: hot-rolled frames with cold-formed purlins, girts, envelope, or floors.
- ASCE/SEI 7-22 and the local code, such as REP-2021 in Panama or NSR-10 in Colombia, set the wind and seismic loads for both systems.
- PEB Corp recommends the system from site and occupancy data: location, spans, heights, loads, number of levels, and schedule.
PEB Corp engineers both systems: hot-rolled steel structures designed to AISC 360 and cold-formed steel (CFS) framing, also called light-gauge steel (LGS), designed to AISI S100-16 (R2020). Hot-rolled steel fits buildings driven by overhead cranes, heavy concentrated loads, very long clear spans, or tall eave heights. Cold-formed steel fits light, repetitive buildings, and many projects work best with a hybrid of the two.
What a PEMB is, and what cold-formed steel framing is
PEB Corp is the company; "PEB" (pre-engineered building) is also a generic industry term. In the US market, a pre-engineered metal building (PEMB), or metal building system, combines rigid primary frames of hot-rolled or built-up plate sections with cold-formed Z and C secondary members: roof purlins and wall girts. The frames, bracing, and connections are designed and fabricated as one system and shipped ready for erection.
Hot-rolled steel leaves the mill as heavy sections with thick webs and flanges, such as W shapes, channels, and angles. When the geometry calls for it, the fabricator builds up members from welded plate. Design follows AISC 360, the American Institute of Steel Construction's Specification for Structural Steel Buildings.
Cold-formed steel is thin sheet bent at room temperature into studs, tracks, hat channels, and C- and Z-sections. NewCon Steel® roll-forms these LGS/CFS members at the group's CNC plant at Centro Industrial PEB, Las Mañanitas, Panama City, in thicknesses of 0.85–2.5 mm (0.033–0.098 in) with a ±0.5 mm (±0.02 in) CNC fabrication tolerance. Because the sections are slender, local and distortional buckling govern their design, which is why CFS has its own specification: AISI S100-16 (R2020) with Supplement 3 (S3-22).
For definitions of these terms, see the industrialized construction glossary, and for the light-gauge system in more depth, the steel framing (LGS) guide.
Comparison table: hot-rolled vs. cold-formed steel
The table summarizes the differences that drive system selection. The local code sets which edition of each standard applies, and section capacities are confirmed in each project's structural calculations.
| Criterion | Hot-rolled steel | Cold-formed steel (CFS framing) |
|---|---|---|
| Member design standard | AISC 360-22; AISC 341-22 where seismic design requires it | AISI S100-16 (R2020) w/S3-22; framing AISI S240-20; seismic AISI S400-20 |
| Wind and seismic loads | ASCE/SEI 7-22 and the local code | ASCE/SEI 7-22 and the local code |
| Material and thickness | Mill sections (W shapes, channels, angles) or built-up plate; heavy thicknesses | Coated sheet; at NewCon Steel, Zn-Al-Mg 275 g/m² in 0.85–2.5 mm |
| Connections | Structural bolts or welds, in the shop and in the field, per design | Self-drilling screws and bolts; the bolted NewCon Steel line has no field welding |
| Corrosion protection | Paint system or hot-dip zinc coating applied to each piece, per specification | Coating applied at the coil; at NewCon Steel, 275 g/m² total across both faces (0.90 oz/ft²) |
| Fabrication | Structural steel shop: cutting, drilling, welding, and painting | CNC line: each piece cut, punched, marked, and labeled from the model |
| Typical uses | Crane buildings, tall clear heights, heavy concentrated loads, and heavy industrial structures | Schools, offices, housing, clinics, light floors, building envelope, and truss-roof warehouses where loads allow |
| Design within the group | PEB Corp engineering | PEB Corp engineering |
| Fabrication within the group | Supply defined per project | NewCon Steel, at the group's CNC plant |
Hot-rolled steel structures (AISC 360) are designed by PEB Corp engineering; NewCon Steel® manufactures the bolted cold-formed steel (AISI S100). When you compare bids, check that each system was calculated to its own specification. An LGS member is not designed to the hot-rolled specification: if a bid does that, ask for the calculations under AISI S100-16 before comparing. The NewCon Steel engineering and standards page explains what each specification governs.
When each system fits
Neither system wins on every project. PEB Corp recommends a system after reviewing clear span, height, loads, number of levels, site, and schedule.
When hot-rolled steel fits
- Overhead cranes. A crane applies moving, impact, and fatigue loads to runway beams and columns. That demand is usually carried by hot-rolled or built-up frames designed to AISC 360.
- Long spans and tall eaves. When the clear span or eave height exceeds what a light truss can carry, a rigid hot-rolled frame concentrates capacity in a few columns and keeps the floor open.
- Concentrated loads. Heavy equipment, tanks, and storage mezzanines favor heavier sections.
- Heavy industrial structures. Platforms, process supports, and structures that carry machine vibration are usually designed in hot-rolled steel.
When cold-formed steel framing fits
- Light buildings of one or more levels. Classrooms, offices, workforce housing, clinics, and homes carry distributed loads that AISI S240-20 framing handles with load-bearing walls, floors, and roof.
- Truss-roof warehouses. SmartBrix Construction builds industrial buildings and warehouses in CFS framing with steel trusses that remove interior columns, where loads allow.
- Remote sites and islands. Members are light and arrive cut and labeled, and the bolted line avoids depending on certified welders on site.
- Short schedules. Erection is repetitive: the crew places, aligns, and fastens each piece according to the shop drawings.
As a published group reference, SmartBrix Construction erects cold-formed steel structures at 380 m² (about 4,090 sq ft) per day per crew, and a typical industrial building can be operating in ≈4 months from the fabrication order, depending on scope and site. Turnkey (design-build) CFS framing projects are executed by SmartBrix Construction, which typically delivers in 3–5 months from foundations; see its steel framing construction page.
Hybrid systems: hot-rolled frames with cold-formed components
Combining both systems is common, and a typical PEMB already does it: hot-rolled or built-up primary frames with cold-formed purlins and girts. Three combinations are common:
- Hot-rolled frame with a light envelope. Hot-rolled frames with cold-formed roof purlins, wall girts, and exterior walls.
- Hot-rolled building with CFS interiors. The primary frame carries the span and the crane, while offices, restrooms, floors, and mezzanines are framed in cold-formed steel.
- Bolted frames with panels. Bolted cold-formed frames serve as the skeleton, with pre-assembled structural panels for walls, floors, and roof. This is the NewCon Steel bolted structural steel line, erected with no field welding.
In a hybrid system, each part is designed to its own specification: the frame to AISC 360 and the cold-formed components to AISI S100-16 (R2020). PEB Corp coordinates the connections between them in a BIM model at LOD 400 (Revit / Tekla) before fabrication, so holes and bearing points line up on site. See how that workflow runs in the post on the BIM construction process.
Wind and seismic: ASCE 7, NSR-10, and REP-2021 apply to both
The structural system changes the member design specification; the loads the building must resist stay the same. ASCE/SEI 7-22 sets loads and load combinations: dead, live, wind, seismic, and rain. The local code sets which loads and editions govern: REP-2021 (Panama's structural design regulation) in Panama, NSR-10 (Colombia's seismic-resistant building code) in Colombia, and, in the Caribbean, the IBC as adopted by each jurisdiction.
For seismic detailing, hot-rolled steel follows AISC 341-22 and cold-formed steel follows AISI S400-20 where the site's seismic hazard and the governing code require it. In hurricane zones, PEB Corp applies a hurricane design verified up to 250 km/h (155 mph), Saffir-Simpson Category 4, project by project. The quoted wind speed is a design reference, not a universal building rating. See the hurricane-resistant steel buildings guide and the code for each market on the Panama and Colombia pages.
What engineering needs to recommend a system
PEB Corp recommends the system based on site and occupancy data. Include this information in your first inquiry:
- Country, city, and site location, which set the governing code and the wind and seismic loads.
- Building use, approximate area, and number of levels.
- Required clear spans and clear heights.
- Overhead cranes, equipment, racks, or mezzanines, with their loads and locations.
- Geotechnical report, if available; the foundations guide for steel buildings explains why it matters to the design.
- Available drawings, target date, and whether you need engineering, steel supply, or construction.
To compare proposals, ask for the same basis in all of them: the same code and edition, the same loads, and the same scope of supply. A price per kilogram of steel and a price per square meter of building measure different scopes, and a proposal without structural calculations does not show which specification was used.
With that information, PEB Corp routes your request to the right company in the PEB Corp Group: engineering and export at PEB Corp, profiles, panels, and kits at NewCon Steel, and construction at SmartBrix Construction.
Talk to PEB Corp engineering → Reply within 24 business hours · technical proposal / quote in 48 h