HEA, HEB, and HEM are three weight classes of the same European wide-flange (HE) section. At any nominal size, HEA is the light series, HEB is the standard series, and HEM is the heavy series — same nominal designation, progressively thicker webs and flanges. An HEB 200 weighs 61.3 kg/m versus 42.3 kg/m for an HEA 200, roughly 45% more steel at the same nominal size. HEM 200 jumps to 103 kg/m.
If you price European work by the tonne — and you do — the letter after "HE" matters as much as the number. Miss it on a takeoff and you can be off by a factor of 2.5 on weight for the same count of pieces.
What is the difference between HEA and HEB?
Both are wide-flange H-sections rolled to the same European series (the shapes you'll see called out on EN 1993 / Eurocode drawings). The number is the nominal depth in millimetres; the letter is the weight class. The differences that matter at the fab shop:
| Property | HEA (light) | HEB (standard) | HEM (heavy) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual depth vs nominal | Slightly under nominal (HEA 200 is 190 mm deep) | Equals nominal (HEB 200 is 200 mm deep) | Over nominal (HEM 200 is 220 mm deep) |
| Web/flange thickness | Thinnest | Middle | Thickest |
| Weight at HE 200 | 42.3 kg/m | 61.3 kg/m | 103 kg/m |
| Typical use | Beams where weight governs, secondary framing | Default columns and primary beams | Heavy columns, high axial load, seismic, fire-rating by mass |
The trap for estimators trained on AISC: HEA and HEM depths are not the nominal number. Only HEB actually measures its designation. An HEA 300 is 290 mm deep; an HEM 300 is 340 mm deep. If you're checking a connection detail or a clearance against the section depth, look up the real dimension — don't trust the name.
There are two more variants you'll occasionally meet. HE AA is an extra-light series (HE 200 AA is 34.6 kg/m, shallower again at 186 mm), common in cheaper long-span roof framing. And above roughly 300 mm nominal, mills also roll weight-designated HE sections like "HE 400 x 421" — super-heavy column stock where the second number is simply the kg/m. Our shape database carries 124 HE sections across all of these variants; the table below covers the three families you'll see on 95% of drawings.
HEA vs HEB vs HEM weight chart (all 24 sizes)
Weights in kg/m, actual depth h in mm, from ArcelorMittal catalog data. Multiply kg/m by 0.672 for lbs/ft.
| Nominal size | HEA kg/m | HEA h (mm) | HEB kg/m | HEB h (mm) | HEM kg/m | HEM h (mm) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HE 100 | 16.7 | 96 | 20.4 | 100 | 41.8 | 120 |
| HE 120 | 19.9 | 114 | 26.7 | 120 | 52.1 | 140 |
| HE 140 | 24.7 | 133 | 33.7 | 140 | 63.2 | 160 |
| HE 160 | 30.4 | 152 | 42.6 | 160 | 76.2 | 180 |
| HE 180 | 35.5 | 171 | 51.2 | 180 | 88.9 | 200 |
| HE 200 | 42.3 | 190 | 61.3 | 200 | 103 | 220 |
| HE 220 | 50.5 | 210 | 71.5 | 220 | 117 | 240 |
| HE 240 | 60.3 | 230 | 83.2 | 240 | 157 | 270 |
| HE 260 | 68.2 | 250 | 93.0 | 260 | 172 | 290 |
| HE 280 | 76.4 | 270 | 103 | 280 | 189 | 310 |
| HE 300 | 88.3 | 290 | 117 | 300 | 238 | 340 |
| HE 320 | 97.6 | 310 | 127 | 320 | 245 | 359 |
| HE 340 | 105 | 330 | 134 | 340 | 248 | 377 |
| HE 360 | 112 | 350 | 142 | 360 | 250 | 395 |
| HE 400 | 125 | 390 | 155 | 400 | 256 | 432 |
| HE 450 | 140 | 440 | 171 | 450 | 263 | 478 |
| HE 500 | 155 | 490 | 187 | 500 | 270 | 524 |
| HE 550 | 166 | 540 | 199 | 550 | 278 | 572 |
| HE 600 | 178 | 590 | 212 | 600 | 285 | 620 |
| HE 650 | 190 | 640 | 225 | 650 | 293 | 668 |
| HE 700 | 204 | 690 | 241 | 700 | 301 | 716 |
| HE 800 | 224 | 790 | 262 | 800 | 317 | 814 |
| HE 900 | 252 | 890 | 291 | 900 | 333 | 910 |
| HE 1000 | 272 | 990 | 314 | 1000 | 349 | 1008 |
Where the weight comes from — a worked comparison at HE 300 (flange width is 300 mm for A and B, 310 mm for M):
| Section | Depth (mm) | Web tw (mm) | Flange tf (mm) | kg/m |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HE 300 AA | 283 | 7.5 | 10.5 | 69.8 |
| HEA 300 | 290 | 8.5 | 14.0 | 88.3 |
| HEB 300 | 300 | 11.0 | 19.0 | 117 |
| HEM 300 | 340 | 21.0 | 39.0 | 238 |
The HEM flange is nearly three times as thick as the HEA flange at this size. That's also why HEM copes, welds, and holes cost more shop hours per piece — you're cutting and drilling 39 mm plate, not 14 mm.
How much heavier is HEB than HEA at the same size?
It varies with size, and the pattern is worth knowing:
| Size range | HEB vs HEA | HEM vs HEA |
|---|---|---|
| HE 100 | +22% | 2.5× |
| HE 180 – HE 220 | +42–45% (the peak) | 2.3–2.5× |
| HE 300 | +33% | 2.7× (the peak) |
| HE 500 | +21% | 1.7× |
| HE 1000 | +15% | 1.3× |
The premium is biggest in the column-size range (HE 180 through HE 300) — exactly the sections that dominate a typical multi-storey frame. On a job with 60 columns called out as HE 240, reading HEB where the drawing says HEA adds 22.9 kg/m × 60 pieces × (say) 3.5 m = about 4.8 tonnes of phantom steel to your bid. Read HEA where it says HEM and you're 20 tonnes light. Nobody wins that argument after the PO is cut.
When do engineers choose HEM sections?
HEM shows up in predictable places:
- Heavily loaded columns in mid-rise and high-rise frames, where the designer wants axial capacity without going up a nominal size and breaking the architectural grid.
- Seismic moment frames, where thick flanges keep width-to-thickness ratios inside the compact/ductile limits.
- Fire resistance by massivity — a heavier section has a lower section factor (exposed perimeter per unit mass), so it heats slower and can sometimes hit a fire rating with less or no intumescent paint. Sometimes the HEM is cheaper installed than an HEB plus coating.
- Transfer structures and crane runways, where deflection and fatigue drive the pick.
For estimating, treat any HEM callout as a flag to double-check: they're expensive per metre, they're often a deliberate engineering decision, and a schedule that mixes HEB and HEM at the same nominal size is exactly where transcription errors happen.
How do HE sections compare to IPE, UB, and W shapes?
The HE family is the European parallel to AISC wide-flange column stock, while IPE sections are the narrow-flange beam series — an IPE 300 weighs 42.2 kg/m against 88.3 for an HEA 300 and 117 for an HEB 300, because its flanges are only 150 mm wide instead of 300. British drawings use UB/UC instead, and there's no exact interchange: an HEB 300 sits near a UC 305x305x97 or a W12x65, but section properties differ enough that substitution is an engineering decision, not an estimating one. If you work across regions, keep a W-shape metric equivalents reference handy, and see our full European steel sections guide for UPN, UPE, and the rest of the EN families.
Rule of thumb for orientation: IPE = beams, HEA/HEB = general purpose, HEM = heavy columns. European drawings routinely use HE sections as beams too, so don't assume role from family.
Takeoff tip: catching the A/B/M suffix on drawings
The suffix is one character and it's worth up to 2.5× the weight. Things that go wrong on real drawings:
- Notation drift. The same section appears as "HEA 200", "HE 200 A", "HE200A", or "HEA200" — sometimes all four on one project. They're identical. Normalize before you count.
- Schedules vs plans disagree. The member schedule says HEB 240, the plan callout says HE 240. When the suffix is missing, check the schedule; if both are ambiguous, RFI it — the weight delta is too big to guess.
- AA hiding as A. A grainy scan turns "HE 200 AA" into "HE 200 A" — a 34.6 vs 42.3 kg/m difference across every purlin on the job.
- Weight-designated heavies. "HE 400 x 421" is not a typo for HEA 400 (125 kg/m). It's a 421 kg/m column. Treat any "x number" HE callout as its own line item.
This is one of the reasons we built SteelFlo to detect the full designation — suffix included — and pull the catalog weight automatically, with every detection drawn as a box on the drawing so you can verify it against the callout before it hits your BOM. The section library covers 4,500+ sections across 6 standards (EN, AISC, BS/IS, AS/NZS, GB, and cold-formed SSMA), so an HEM 240 resolves to 157 kg/m without anyone opening a catalog PDF. With human verification of the flagged detections, accuracy runs 95–99% — and the A/B/M suffix is exactly the kind of one-character detail that automated reading plus a human check catches better than either alone.
Quick answers
Is HEB stronger than HEA? At the same nominal size, yes — thicker web and flanges give HEB more area, more moment capacity, and more stiffness. It's also 15–45% heavier, so "stronger" costs tonnage.
What does the number in HEA 200 mean? Nominal depth in millimetres — but only HEB matches it exactly. HEA 200 is actually 190 mm deep; HEM 200 is 220 mm.
Are HEA/HEB/HEM interchangeable? No. Same family, different section properties. Substitution needs engineer approval, and connection details (bolt gauges, cope depths) usually change too.
How do I convert kg/m to lbs/ft? Multiply by 0.672. HEB 200 at 61.3 kg/m is about 41.2 lbs/ft.
Pricing a European job and need weights fast? Try the free steel weight calculator — pick any HE, IPE, or UB section from the catalog, enter your lengths, and get tonnage without a spreadsheet. You can also browse the full section database at /shapes.