Australian parallel flange channels (PFCs) are rolled to AS/NZS 3679.1 in eleven depths from 50 mm to 380 mm, running from 4.5 kg/m for a 50PFC up to 55.2 kg/m for a 380PFC. Equal angles (EA) come in 18 leg sizes from 20×20 to 200×200, and unequal angles (UA) in 11 leg combinations from 40×25 to 200×150. The full kg/m charts are below — along with the thickness quirk that trips up anyone back-calculating weights: the "10" in a 100×100×10EA is nominal, and the rolled thickness is actually 9.5 mm.
What Sizes Do PFCs Come In?
Australian drawings almost always call up a channel by depth alone — "150PFC", not "150PFC17.7". Each rolled depth has one catalog mass, so the depth is the full designation. Here are the eleven standard depths with current catalog weights, plus what a full stock length weighs (12 m is the most common stock length; sections are also supplied in 9, 10.5, 13.5, 15, 16.5 and 18 m).
| Designation | Mass (kg/m) | 12 m length (kg) | |---|---|---| | 50PFC | 4.5 | 54 | | 75PFC | 5.92 | 71 | | 100PFC | 8.33 | 100 | | 125PFC | 11.9 | 143 | | 150PFC | 17.7 | 212 | | 180PFC | 20.9 | 251 | | 200PFC | 22.9 | 275 | | 230PFC | 25.1 | 301 | | 250PFC | 35.5 | 426 | | 300PFC | 40.1 | 481 | | 380PFC | 55.2 | 662 |
You'll also run into mass-designated channels — the depth plus a kg/m suffix, like 150PFC16.3. These show up on New Zealand drawings and jobs specified from supplier catalogs that carry lighter or heavier alternates at the same depth. If the drawing gives a mass in the designation, price that mass, not the standard catalog figure — a 200PFC20.5 is 2.4 kg/m lighter than a standard 200PFC, which is 29 kg over a 12 m stringer pair. Dimensions for the mass-designated variants:
| Designation | Depth (mm) | Flange (mm) | Flange t (mm) | Web t (mm) | Mass (kg/m) | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 75PFC6.7 | 75 | 40 | 6 | 4 | 6.7 | | 75PFC7.5 | 75 | 40 | 7.5 | 4 | 7.5 | | 100PFC9.3 | 100 | 50 | 6 | 4.5 | 9.3 | | 100PFC10.4 | 100 | 50 | 7.5 | 4.5 | 10.4 | | 125PFC11.4 | 125 | 65 | 6 | 5 | 11.4 | | 125PFC13.4 | 125 | 65 | 7.5 | 5 | 13.4 | | 150PFC16.3 | 150 | 75 | 7.5 | 5.5 | 16.3 | | 150PFC17.9 | 150 | 75 | 9 | 5.5 | 17.9 | | 200PFC20.5 | 200 | 90 | 8 | 6 | 20.5 | | 200PFC23.4 | 200 | 90 | 10 | 6 | 23.4 | | 230PFC26.8 | 230 | 90 | 10 | 7 | 26.8 | | 230PFC29.7 | 230 | 90 | 12 | 7 | 29.7 | | 250PFC31.8 | 250 | 90 | 12 | 8 | 31.8 | | 300PFC40.8 | 300 | 90 | 15 | 9.5 | 40.8 | | 380PFC50.9 | 380 | 100 | 16 | 11 | 50.9 |
For the full AS/NZS family — UBs, UCs, and hollow sections alongside the channels — see the AS/NZS steel sections guide.
What Sizes Do Equal Angles (EA) Come In?
Fifty-seven EA sizes across 18 leg dimensions. Thicknesses in the table are the nominal values used in the designation — more on that below.
| Leg size (mm) | Thicknesses (mm) | Mass (kg/m) | |---|---|---| | 20×20 | 3 | 0.87 | | 25×25 | 3 / 5 / 6 | 1.12 / 1.65 / 2.08 | | 30×30 | 3 / 5 / 6 | 1.35 / 2.01 / 2.56 | | 40×40 | 3 / 5 / 6 | 1.83 / 2.73 / 3.50 | | 45×45 | 3 / 5 / 6 | 2.06 / 3.10 / 3.97 | | 50×50 | 3 / 5 / 6 / 8 | 2.31 / 3.48 / 4.46 / 5.68 | | 55×55 | 5 / 6 | 3.84 / 4.93 | | 60×60 | 5 / 6 / 8 | 4.57 / 5.42 / 7.08 | | 65×65 | 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 | 4.56 / 5.87 / 7.51 / 9.02 | | 70×70 | 6 / 8 | 6.38 / 8.35 | | 75×75 | 5 / 6 / 8 / 10 | 5.27 / 6.81 / 8.73 / 10.5 | | 80×80 | 6 / 8 | 7.27 / 9.63 | | 90×90 | 6 / 8 / 10 | 8.22 / 10.6 / 12.7 | | 100×100 | 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 | 9.16 / 11.8 / 14.2 / 17.7 | | 120×120 | 8 / 10 / 12 | 14.7 / 18.2 / 21.6 | | 125×125 | 8 / 10 / 12 / 16 | 14.9 / 18.0 / 22.5 / 29.1 | | 150×150 | 10 / 12 / 16 / 19 | 21.9 / 27.3 / 35.4 / 42.1 | | 200×200 | 13 / 16 / 18 / 20 / 26 | 40.0 / 48.7 / 54.4 / 60.1 / 76.8 |
One availability note worth pricing around: the 55, 60, 70, 80 and 120 series are mill-rolled sizes that don't appear in every distributor's stock list. If a designer has called up a 70×70×6EA, check availability before you commit a delivery date — the safe substitution conversation (usually up to 75×75×6EA) is easier to have at tender than at fabrication. If you work across US and Australian jobs, the imperial steel angle sizes chart covers the AISC L-shape equivalents.
Unequal Angle (UA) Sizes and Weights
Twenty-eight UA sizes across 11 leg combinations. The long leg is listed first in the designation, and that's the leg that goes against the support face in most cleat and shelf-angle details — worth confirming on the connection detail rather than assuming.
| Leg size (mm) | Thicknesses (mm) | Mass (kg/m) | |---|---|---| | 40×25 | 4 | 1.93 | | 45×30 | 4 | 2.25 | | 60×30 | 5 | 3.36 | | 65×50 | 5 / 6 / 8 | 4.02 / 5.16 / 6.59 | | 75×50 | 5 / 6 / 8 | 4.40 / 5.66 / 7.23 | | 100×75 | 6 / 8 / 10 | 7.98 / 10.3 / 12.4 | | 125×75 | 6 / 8 / 10 / 12 | 9.16 / 11.8 / 14.2 / 17.7 | | 150×90 | 8 / 10 / 12 / 16 | 14.3 / 17.3 / 21.6 / 27.9 | | 150×100 | 8 / 10 / 12 | 15.2 / 18.0 / 22.5 | | 200×100 | 10 / 12 / 15 | 22.5 / 26.9 / 33.8 | | 200×150 | 12 / 16 | 31.4 / 41.3 |
Why Is the Actual Thickness Different From the Name?
This is the quirk that catches people who sanity-check angle weights from first principles. The thickness in an AS/NZS angle designation is nominal. The rolled thickness is slightly different:
| Nominal (in designation) | Actual rolled (mm) | |---|---| | 5 | 4.6 | | 8 | 7.8 | | 10 | 9.5 | | 16 | 15.8 |
Catalog masses are computed from the actual rolled thickness, not the nominal one. Run the numbers on a 100×100×10EA: from the nominal 10 mm you'd estimate roughly (100 + 100 − 10) × 10 = 1,900 mm² of cross-section, which at 7,850 kg/m³ works out to about 14.9 kg/m. The catalog says 14.2 kg/m. Do the same sum with the actual 9.5 mm and you land on 14.2 almost exactly. So if your spreadsheet back-calculates angle weight from the designation thickness, it's over-predicting by around 5% on every nominal-thickness size — small per piece, real money across a job with 200 cleats.
Practical rule: never derive an AS/NZS angle mass from the name. Use the catalog kg/m (the charts above), or a steel weight calculator that carries the catalog values.
What Are WB and WC Welded Sections?
When a job needs more than the biggest hot-rolled UB (610UB125), Australian designers go to welded three-plate sections made to AS/NZS 3679.2: WB (Welded Beam) and WC (Welded Column), both in Grade 300PLUS. Same designation logic as UBs — nominal depth, then mass in kg/m.
| Series | Depths (mm) | Mass range (kg/m) | Sizes | |---|---|---|---| | 700WB | 692–716 | 115–173 | 4 | | 800WB | 792–816 | 122–192 | 4 | | 900WB | 900–924 | 175–282 | 4 | | 1000WB | 1000–1024 | 215–322 | 4 | | 1200WB | 1170–1200 | 249–455 | 7 | | 350WC | 331–355 | 197–280 | 4 | | 400WC | 382–430 | 144–361 | 7 | | 500WC | 472–514 | 228–440 | 7 |
Two estimating notes. First, the actual depth varies within a series (a 1200WB is anywhere from 1170 to 1200 mm deep), so take the depth off the section table when it matters for detailing, not off the name. Second, WBs and WCs carry longer lead times and different supply pricing than rolled sections — flag them separately in your tender rather than lumping them in with the UB tonnage.
How Do AS/NZS Channels and Angles Appear on Drawings?
What you'll actually see on Australian structural drawings:
- Channels: "150PFC" on plan, sometimes "2/150PFC" for a pair (stair stringers, back-to-back lintels). PFCs turn up as stringers, roof strutting, lintels, headers around penetrations, and edge trimmers.
- Angles: full designation with leg sizes and nominal thickness — "100x100x8EA", "125x75x8UA". Sometimes with the suffix spelled out ("EA" / "UA"), sometimes as "L100x100x8" on drawings from engineers who move between standards.
- Pairs and clusters: "2/75x75x6EA" back-to-back bracing members, cruciform column reinforcement called as 4 angles.
- Cleats: often not on the plan at all — they live in the connection details with a callout like "100x100x8EA x 90 LG cleat" repeated across every beam-to-column connection of that type.
The masses on member schedules should match the catalog kg/m figures above. When a schedule mass disagrees with the catalog for the same designation, query it — it's usually a nominal-thickness back-calculation error on the drafting side, the same 5% trap covered earlier.
How Do You Count PFCs and Angles in a Takeoff Without Missing Cleats?
Channels are the easy part — they're drawn on plan as members, they get counted like beams. Angles are where takeoffs leak, for three reasons:
- Cleats live in details, not plans. A typical detail says "8 mm cleat, 100x100x8EA, 90 long" once, and applies to forty connections. If you only count what's drawn on the plan sheets, you miss all of them. Count connection types from the details, multiply by occurrences, and keep the cleat line items separate from the bracing angles so they don't get lost in a merge.
- Bracing angles hide in elevations. Roof-plane and wall bracing is usually on separate bracing plans or elevations, drawn as single lines with a designation tag. Small kg/m, big lengths — 60 m of 75×75×6EA is 400 kg you don't want to donate.
- Short lengths distort the count. Twenty 90 mm cleats is 1.8 m of angle, but it's also twenty pieces through the saw, twenty sets of holes, and twenty welds. Track piece count and length separately — the labour lives in the piece count.
This is exactly the class of drawing where AI-assisted takeoff earns its keep: every "150PFC" and "100x100x8EA" label on every sheet — plans, elevations, and connection details — gets found and boxed for you to verify, so the cleat that only appears in Detail 7 doesn't silently vanish from the BOM. SteelFlo reads AS/NZS designations natively (alongside five other standards, 4,500+ sections total) and hits 95-99% accuracy with AI detection plus your verification pass. More on how that works for local drawings in steel takeoff software for Australian and NZ fabricators.
Put the charts to work on a real job: upload an AS/NZS drawing and get every PFC, EA, and UA on it found, boxed, and weighted with the catalog kg/m values above. Your first 3 takeoffs are free — no card required.