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Roof battens for tiled roof

Introduction
NASH is receiving enquiries about the design of steel roof battens to support roof tiles which are
increasingly being used with both timber and steel framing. The requirements for tile battens
are covered in NASH Standard – Residential and Low-rise Steel Framing, Part 2: Design
Solutions. These requirements are mirrored in AS 2050 Installation of roof tiles.

The revised NASH Standard – Steel Framed Construction in Bushfire Areas 2021 includes
provisions for tiled roofs for Bushfire Attack Levels (BAL) of 40 or less. The NASH Bushfire
Standard requires non-combustible steel battens to be used for all BALs. The updated
Standard was released in December 2021.

Design
NASH Standard – Residential and Low-rise Steel Framing, Part 2: Design Solutions specifies
the following requirements for roof battens:

Clause 7.2 Roof battens to rafter/truss

The roof battens must be connected to the truss chord or rafter:
a) Tile roof – steel battens selected from Table 2.1 or Table 2.2 – 1 x 12 g screw per
chord or rafter to each alternate flange. Ends, laps, all battens in edge areas and
all battens in C1 and C2 areas must be fixed to both flanges. (see Fig. 7.1); or

Fig. 7.1 Roof batten connection

For tiled roofs NASH Standard Part 2 Table 2.1 specifies a maximum span of 1200 mm for a
TH4055 batten (40 mm nominal height batten with a BMT of 0.55 mm) for non cyclonic regions
(wind class N1 – N4).

In cyclonic regions (wind class C1-C2) a TH4075 batten (40 mm nominal height batten with a
BMT of 0.75 mm) is specified for spans up to 1200 mm.

The steel roof battens must be connected to the truss or rafter with 1 x 12g screw to each
alternate flange. Ends, laps and all battens in edge areas must be fixed to both flanges of the
batten. In cyclonic regions the battens must be fixed to both flanges.

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Typical details
The following figures show some typical details for tiled roofs with steel battens.

Fig. A Barge detail

Fig. B Typical eaves and roof detail

Fig. C Typical ridge capping detail

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Fig. D Typical valley detail

Note: steel valley gutter support may also be constructed using timber valley boards in non bushfire
areas.

Fig. E Screw fixing of tile to steel batten Fig. F Tile removed to show batten

References
NS 200:2014 NASH Standard – Residential and Low-rise Steel Framing, Part 2: Design
Solutions
NS 300:2021 NASH Standard – Steel Framed Construction in Bushfire Areas
AS 2050:2018 Installation of roof tiles

NASH Standard – Residential and Low-rise Steel Framing, Part 2: Design Solutions is
referenced in the National Construction Code (NCC) as a deemed-to-satisfy (DtS) solution.
NASH Standards are available from the NASH online shop.

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