Steel canopies and awnings

What it is

Steel canopies and awnings shelter entrances, walkways, loading docks, car parks and outdoor work areas. A typical canopy has primary beams cantilevered from the building or supported on posts, secondary purlins or rafters, a roof covering, a fascia and a drainage path. Architectural canopies at main entrances often use slender hollow sections, exposed tie rods and glass; industrial canopies over docks and walkways use rolled or cold-formed sections with metal sheeting.

World Steel fabricates canopies as stand-alone misc. metals items and as part of pre-engineered building packages, where canopies are framed from the main columns. See canopies and fascias for PEB canopy framing and vehicle parking shelters for larger free-standing structures.

Types and options

Roof options include profiled metal sheet, glass (laminated safety glass designed to the local glazing code), multiwall polycarbonate and louvres. Options also include internal gutters and downpipes concealed in posts, soffit linings, integrated lighting conduits, signage frames and fascia cladding.

Design and compliance

Canopies are light but exposed, so wind usually governs, including uplift and the higher pressures on canopy roofs and building edges. In the US, loads come from ASCE 7 and the steel design from AISC 360; in Australia from AS/NZS 1170.2 (wind) and AS 4100; in Europe from EN 1991-1-4, which has specific coefficients for canopy roofs, with steel design to EN 1993-1-1. Snow drift from a higher roof onto the canopy, maintenance loads and ponding in internal gutters also need to be checked.

Connections to the building are critical. Brackets must suit the backing structure – a steel column, a concrete wall with cast-in plates or anchors designed to ACI 318 Chapter 17, AS 5216 or EN 1992-4, or masonry with appropriate fixings. Tie rods need tension-only details and a way to adjust them. Glass canopies follow the local glazing code (for example AS 1288 in Australia) and are designed by a specialist where required. For US metal building deliveries, canopies supplied with the building fall within World Steel's IAS AC472 accredited scope.

Fabrication and finishing at World Steel

Beams, posts and brackets are cut and drilled on CNC lines; architectural members are welded and ground to the finish level the architect specifies, using GMAW or FCAW to AWS D1.1, AS/NZS 1554.1 or EN ISO 3834-2 procedures. Tie-rod lugs and clevis plates are fitted from the approved drawings, and canopies can be trial-assembled to check lines and fascia alignment before shipment.

Most external canopies are hot-dip galvanized by qualified galvanizers to ASTM A123 / AS/NZS 4680 / EN ISO 1461, and then painted or powder-coated as a duplex system where colour is required. Interior or sheltered canopies can be shot blasted and painted to EN ISO 12944, AS/NZS 2312.1 or SSPC specifications. See paint and coating systems.

Installation and site notes

• Wall brackets or anchors are set first and surveyed; slotted holes allow line and level adjustment.
• Beams are lifted into place and temporarily propped until tie rods or moment connections are complete.
• Tie rods are tensioned to remove sag, not to preload the structure, unless the design says otherwise.
• Roofing, gutters, flashings and fascias are installed; touch-up of coatings is done to the coating specification. Site safety during erection applies at height.

Selecting and specifying

For a quotation, send the architectural drawings, canopy dimensions and projection, the backing structure, roofing type, finish and colour, and the site wind and snow parameters. World Steel can design the canopy steel to the local code, or fabricate to the engineer's design. Canopies combine well with bollards, lintels and other entrance steelwork in one package.