April 13, 2020 Sheet Metal for Commercial and Residential Roofs

Understand the specifications that apply to sheet metal for metal roofing.

There’s a lot to be said for metal roofing. Along with the durability, this approach to commercial and residential roofing offers benefits that other materials simply don’t provide. In order to ensure that the sheet metal used, roofing professionals must utilize materials that meet specific quality standards. If you’re a manufacturer or a roofing professional offering services in the local area, here are some of the specifications that the new MD-20 & MD-24 sheet metal for metal roofs must provide.

Compliance With Local Building Codes and Regulations

A good place to begin is keeping up to date on the building codes and general regulations that apply in the area where you will sell or install those roofing materials. Just like other products, the sheet metal must meet those standards in order to pass a safety inspection.

While you can’t go wrong by following manufacturing standards that are set on a federal level, augmenting with any regulations that apply in the local markets will ensure that all the expense and the work that goes into a roof installation doesn’t end up being wasted. No one benefits if you install a roof only to have the local inspector decide the materials or the installation itself is not up to those local standards.

Resistance to Adverse Weather Conditions

Not all sheet metal is the same. That’s true even when you’re talking about sheet metal designed for use as roofing materials. It’s up to you to determine if the metal is properly treated and coated. If not, something about the manufacturing process has to change or the roofer needs to purchase materials from a different manufacturer.

Why does the coating matter? It boils down to how well the metal will hold up to different kinds of weather conditions. The general expectation is that a commercial or residential metal roof will last for at least five decades. That’s feasible as long as the material is treated effectively. Look for the manufacturer to provide some type of details about the coating process as well as information about the projected life of the steel under certain types of weather conditions.

Fire Safety

Sheet metal designed for use in roof construction is subjected to both flame tests and fire resistance tests by most manufacturers. A classification system helps contractors to know how resistant the metal happens to be. The scale includes Class A, Class B, and Class C ratings. A Class A rating indicates a higher level of fire resistance while a Class C would indicate the lowest rating.

Note that the majority of sheet metal manufactured in the United States for roofing purposes would be Class A. Local standards may or may not require this high of a rating; Class A is sometimes only required in what are considered wildfire zones. By opting for sheet metal in this class, you are more likely to meet or exceed the standards that apply in the local area.

Energy Ratings

As more jurisdictions include standards for energy efficiency in their requirements, sheet metal that’s properly powder-coated makes it easier to comply with those regulations. Depending on the specifications used by the manufacturer, that sheet metal may help improve overall energy efficiency by as much as 40%. While factors such as the color of the coating may have some effect, sheet metal that is granular coated is likely to meet and may even exceed any requirements for energy efficiency that the local jurisdiction would require.

While other forms of roofing materials will be around for many years to come, sheet metal for roofing is likely to grow in popularity. Manufacturers would do well to ensure their offerings are sufficient in quality and quantity to meet the demand and provide roofing installation professionals with compelling reasons to choose their products over the competition.

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