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How to use the Column & Beam Designer (G+3)

The Column & Beam Designer gives preliminary column and beam sizes and steel for a basic G+3 house using tributary-area loads and IS 456 simplified continuous-beam coefficients. Use the free Building Frame Designer for a full 3D frame analysis.

Open the Column & Beam Designer ›

Premium — ₹49, one time. Open the tool and press unlock. You sign in with your email (a sign-in link, no password) and pay once; the calculator then stays unlocked on your account on any phone or computer where you sign in with the same email.

On this page

Quick start
1 · Project & grid
2 · Storeys & storey height
3–5 · Materials, slab, loads and walls
Results tabs
Questions people ask

Quick start

Unlock the tool (₹49).
Set the number of column lines and fill the spacings (ft) on the diagram; switch off missing columns.
Choose storeys, height, grades, slab, loads and wall load.
Read the Columns, Beams and Steel tabs.

1 · Project & grid

Field	What to enter	Typical value	Tip
Project name		My G+3 House
Columns along Length (X) / Width (Y) grid lines	Number of column lines each way (2 – 8).	3 × 2
Column spacing (ft)	Fill the spacing between each pair of column lines on the diagram.	10 – 14 ft	Tap a column node to switch it off (L-shaped plot, verandah); its beams go too.

2 · Storeys & storey height

Field	What to enter	Typical value
Building	G, G+1, G+2 or G+3.	G+3
Floor-to-floor height (ft)	Plinth to roof beam of each storey.	10 ft
Parapet wall height (ft)	On the terrace.	3 ft

3–5 · Materials, slab, loads and walls

Field	What to enter	Typical value	Tip
Concrete grade / main steel / stirrup steel	M20 / M25; Fe 415 / 500.	M20, Fe 500, Fe 415
Slab thickness (in)		5 in
Floor finish (kN/m²)		1.0
Live load — floors / roof	IS 875 Part 2.	2.0 / 1.5
Beams carry wall load / wall thickness	Each beam carries one storey of brick wall (19 kN/m³); top beam only the parapet.	Yes, 230 mm	Turn off for open bays.

Results tabs

Tab	What it shows
Layout	Grid with column and beam marks.
Columns	Load per column and size / steel per storey.
Beams	Moments, shear, size and steel per beam.
Steel	Steel summary.
Notes	Assumptions and limits.

Save projects with Save current as. This is a thumb-rule sizing aid, not a full structural analysis.

Questions people ask

How is this different from the Building Frame Designer?

This tool uses tributary areas and moment coefficients for quick sizing. The free Building Frame Designer analyses the whole 3D frame for gravity, earthquake and wind and designs every member with a full BBS.

Can I remove a column?

Yes — tap its node on the grid diagram; its beams are removed too.

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