NASCLA Metals: steel, joists, deck and Subpart R

What the bulletin says, and what it leaves out

PSI's Candidate Information Bulletin (updated 7 Jul 2026) gives the area name and its count of 6, with no topic list. The topics below are our reading of the area name and the reference list.

Which book for which question

Our suggestion from the titles. NASCLA publishes no mapping.

Topics to cover

• Shapes. A wide-flange shape such as W10x33 is named by nominal depth in inches and weight in pounds per foot. Channels, angles, hollow structural sections and plates are the others to recognize.
• Erection sequence. Anchor rods to a template, columns on base plates, beams and girders connected, the frame plumbed, braced and bolted, then deck. Temporary bracing stays until the permanent lateral system is complete.
• Connections. Bolts are snug-tight or pretensioned as the drawings say. Field changes to connections go through the engineer of record.
• Joists and joist girders. Joists are stiff in their own plane and weak sideways until bridging and deck brace them.
• Steel deck. A working platform, a form for concrete and often a diaphragm. Bundles go near supports; sheets are fastened promptly; openings are protected.

The OSHA rules to know

Each was read in the eCFR text current to 4 Nov 2026. The wording here is ours.

• Fall protection in steel erection applies on an unprotected side or edge more than 15 ft above a lower level (1926.760(a)(1)). Connectors and workers in controlled decking zones follow their own paragraphs of the same section. That is a different trigger from the 6 ft general rule.
• Erection bridging is the bolted diagonal bridging that must be in place before the hoisting cables are released from a joist, where the span calls for it (definition in 1926.751, rules in 1926.757(d)).
• No construction loads on steel joists until all bridging is installed and anchored and all joist bearing ends are attached, except as 1926.757(e)(4) allows (1926.757(e)(2)).

Worked examples

All numbers are invented. Each is worked two ways.

Beam weight. A floor uses 22 beams, each W10x33 and 25 ft long. Total length = 22 x 25 = 550 ft. Weight = 550 x 33 = 18,150 lb, or 9.08 tons. Check: 500 x 33 = 16,500 and 50 x 33 = 1,650, total 18,150; 18,150 / 2,000 = 9.075.

Deck area. A roof bay is 96 ft by 60 ft and the deck sheets cover 3 ft wide. Runs across 60 ft = 60 / 3 = 20, each 96 ft long, so 20 x 96 = 1,920 linear feet of sheet covering 5,760 square feet. Check: 96 x 60 = 5,760, and 1,920 x 3 = 5,760. With 5% waste for laps and cuts, order 5,760 x 1.05 = 6,048 square feet.

Common mix-ups

• W10x33 is not 10 ft by 33 in. The first number is depth in inches; the second is pounds per foot.
• 15 ft, not 6 ft, is the steel erection trigger. Read which work the question describes.
• A joist is not a beam you can load right away. Until bridging is anchored and the ends are attached, it cannot take construction loads.
• Deck bundles at midspan of an unbridged joist are the wrong answer. They go near supports, where the plan allows.

How to practice

Tab the joist digest and the deck manual at their indexes and their handling, bridging and fastening topics, and tab Subpart R in your OSHA book. Drill the book choice: read a question, name the book in five seconds, then find the topic. The NASCLA study guide puts Metals in week 6 with Masonry and Wood. For the other OSHA triggers, see NASCLA OSHA topics; Concrete is the other six-question structural area.

Practice it

Take the free 10-question check and see your score by subject area in minutes. It needs no signup and explains every answer.

The NASCLA Commercial course has a lesson for each of the 12 subject areas that shows which listed reference to open and how to apply it, original practice questions with every answer worked, and four timed practice exams of 115 questions on a 330-minute clock. Your scores come back by subject area, so you know where the next study hour goes. See the course.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by NASCLA or PSI. NASCLA and PSI are named only to identify the exam and its test vendor. Book titles are named only to identify them.

Sources

Show the list

• PSI Candidate Information Bulletin 1458, content outline and reference list, updated 7 Jul 2026. Retrieved 5 Nov 2026.
• 29 CFR 1926 Subpart R, Steel Erection, OSHA. Values checked against the eCFR text current to 4 Nov 2026.