The Canada Plan Service, a Canadian federal/provincial organization, promotes the transfer of technology through factsheets,

design aids and construction drawings that show how to plan and build modern farm structures and equipment for Canadian
agriculture.

For more information, contact your local provincial agricultural engineer or extension advisor.

WARNING This leaflet may require structural and other changes to meet local climatic loads, user requirements and applicable building regulations (such as the Canadian Farm Building
Code). Before construction, the user of this leaflet is responsible to ensure that all required changes are made.
J. Munroe, D. Masse and H. Jackson
This leaflet gives the size of wood purlins and rafters needed
for low-human-occupancy farm buildings. Purlins are
horizontal roof members that span the trusses or rafters and
support the roof cladding. Rafters are sloped-roof frame
members that usually extend from plate-to-ridge, or, in the
case of small shed roofs, from plate -to-plate. Both the
structural and functional design of purlins and rafters are
important. Structural design is based on the Canadian Farm
Building Code (1990) and the wood design standard,
Engineering Design in Wood (Limit States Design)
CAN3-086.1-M89.
FUNCTIONAL DESIGN
Select a purlin system that is easy and practical to build. It is
often desirable to have all the purlins and roofing fasteners in
straight lines for best appearance and to avoid mistakes such
as fasteners that miss the purlins. This may make some
structural options less desirable, such as purlins on edge and
overlapped at the ends.
Purlins must act as a solid base, and give adequate grip for
roofing screws or nails. In this respect, planed dimension
lumber, 19 mm (0.75 in.) thick is marginal; most builders
prefer heavier 38 x 89 mm (nominal 2 x 4), perhaps at a
lower grade, for the slight difference in cost.
Some building systems use insulation between the purlins,
and may include protective sheathing such as plywood under
the purlins, to create an insulated roof. In this situation, you
may find it advantageous to select deeper purlins than
required for structural strength, to allow enough space for the
thickness of insulation. An effective, sealed and complete
vapor barrier is essential for this type of building system. This
too may affect how you choose and install purlins.
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
Wood-frame (and some steel-frame) farm structures have
wood purlins supporting metal roofing. Design purlins and
rafters to carry the roof loads (dead weight of the roof plus the
roof-snow load). Also, connect the purlins to the rafters
adequately to withstand uplift forces caused by wind.
For rafters spaced up to 1200 mm (4 ft), the purlin is usually
38. X 89 mm (2 X 4) laid flat. For wider spacings, a purlin sized
to support the roof load is usually installed on edge. Those
installed on edge can be laid across the top of the rafters or
cut to fit between them, supported on purlin hangers; if placed
across the top, block them to prevent them from twisting or
rolling down the roof slope The cover illustration shows all
three methods.
Roof slope affects the strength of purlins installed on edge
because they can bend down the slope. For practical
purposes, for roofs not over 18.4° (1:3 slope) and truss or
rafter spacing of 2.4 m or less, conventional steel roofing
materials and methods provide sufficient diaphragm action to
minimize the deflection and thus the bending of the purlins
down the slope. For steeper roofs or more widely spaced
trusses or rafters, you may have to add special ties or
blocking to resist this bending effect.
Purlin spacing can also be affected by the lateral support
needed by roof-truss top chords or rafters, and by the support
spacing requirements of the roof cladding. Check with the
steel roofing supplier for specifications for design snow load
and support. Canada Plan Service roof-truss designs assume
top-chord lateral supports (e.g., purlins) spaced at 600 mm
(24 in.) o.c. or less.
PURLIN-TO-TRUSS OR TO-RAFTER
CONNECTION
Attach purlins on the flat with two 102 mm hot-dipped
galvanized nails at each purlin-to-truss or purlin-to-rafter
connection. If placing purlins on edge on top of trusses or
rafters, use blocking or commercial anchors strong enough to
resist wind uplift and keep them from rolling down the slope.
Use commercial hangers to support purlins that fit between
trusses or rafters. Consult your local provincial agricultural
engineer for complete design and details of these
connections.
PURLIN SELECTION TABLES
Table 1 shows the most common purlin installations and lists
their load carrying capacities, assuming No. 2
Spruce-Pine-Fir (S-P-F) purlins spaced 600 mm o.c. The
following gives a brief description of each purlin type and the
engineering analysis that was applied in computing the load
tables.
Case A
• Purlins span three or more truss spaces - for example,
3600 mm (12 ft) purlins over trusses spaced at 1200 mm
(4 ft) o.c.
• Maximum factored bending moment is taken as 0.100
wfL², where wf is total factored roof load per unit length
of purlin, and L is the purlin span between trusses.
• Maximum factored shear force is taken as 0.600 wfL.
• Maximum moment and maximum shear occur at
interior supports.
Case B
• Purlins span two truss spaces - for example. 4800 mm
(16 ft) purlins over trusses spaced at 2400 mm (8 ft).
 • Maximum factored bending moment is taken as 0.125
wfL ².
• Maximum factored shear force is taken as 0.625 wfL.
• Maximum moment and maximum shear occur at
interior supports.
Case C
• Purlins span one truss space - for example, 2400 mm (8
ft) purlins over trusses spaced at 2400 mm (8 ft).
• Maximum factored bending moment is taken as 0.125
wfL².
• Maximum factored shear force is taken as 0.500 wfL.
• Maximum moment occurs at the middle of the span,
maximum shear at the ends of the span.
The following notes apply to Table 1:
• Purlins on edge must be adequately blocked or
restrained at the supports to prevent rolling or sliding;
continuous roof sheathing fastened to the purlins is
assumed.
• Roof slopes no greater than 1:3.
• Loads are tabulated for an assumed purlin spacing of 600
mm (2 ft); for purlin spacing S less than 600 mm (2 ft),
multiply the tabulated load by 600/S.
• Shear is limiting to the left and below the dotted line
shown in the tables, while bending is limiting to the right
and above. Do not interpolate across this dotted line to
determine allowable loads for other truss spacings.
The following notes apply to Table 1 for purlins as well as to
Tables 2 and 3 for rafters:
• The load factors are assumed to be 1.25 for dead load
and 1.5 for live load, the importance factor to be 0.8
(low-human-occupancy farm buildings) and the load
combination factor to be 1.0. The relationship between
factored load wf and dead (D) and live (L) loads becomes
wf = 1.25 D + 1.2 L. If dead load is small compared to live
load, as is the case for metal roofing, this reduces
approximately to wf = 1.2 (D + L).
• The tabulated unfactored total allowable roof load
includes an assumed dead load of 0.2 kPa.
• In calculating factored bending moment and shear
resistance, the load duration factor is assumed to be 1.0
(snow), the treatment factor, grade factor.
service-condition factor and lateral-stability factor to be
1.0, the system (load-sharing) factor to be 1.1 and the
notch factor to be 1.0. The appropriate size factor in
bending and shear for each member has been accounted
for.
• Loads are tabulated in each table for a particular wood
species group and grade. Do not interpolate for other
wood species groups. Instead, compare maximum loads
calculated for shear and bending using coefficients given
for appropriate Case A, B or C.
RAFTER DESIGN TABLES
The most typical rafter arrangement is similar to Case
C for purlins, that is, a simply supported member subjected to
loads perpendicular to its length. As the rafter usually
supports decking or several purlins, its loading can be
assumed to be uniformly distributed, again like Case C.
Tables 2 and 3 give unfactored total allowable roof loads for
such rafters for No. 2 S-P-F and No. 2 D. fir-L, respectively.
The following notes apply to these tables:
• Rafters must be adequately restrained with blocking or
equivalent against moving or overturning at their
suppports; in addition, the compressive edge of 38 X 235
mm (2 x 10) rafters should be held in line by purlins not
more than 610 mm (2 ft) apart or by roof sheathing. The
compressive edge of 38 x 286 mm (2 x 12) rafters with
purlins not more than 610 mm (2 ft) apart or roof
sheathing and, in addition, by bridging or blocking not
more than 2400 mm (8 ft) apart.
• For rafter spacing S other than 600 mm, but less than
1220 mm, multiply the tabulated load by 600/S; for S
greater than 1220 mm, multiply the tabulated load by
(600/S)/1.1.
• Rafters are assumed to have a uniformly distri
buted load.
• Maximum moment is taken as 0.125 wfL, where wf is the
total factored roof load, and occurs at midspan.
• Maximum shear is taken as 0.500 wfL and occurs
at the ends of the span.
Example
Determine the purlin and rafter design for a single-
slope shed-type building (metal roof, no ceiling) with 3.6 m
(12 ft) span, 1:3 (18.4) roof slope, purlins at 0.6 m (2 ft) o.c.,
rafters at 1.2 m (4 ft) o.c., exposed to wind at Montreal,
Quebec.
Roof dead load D = 0.2 kPa
To find the roof live load L,
From the Supplement to the National Building
Code of Canada (NBCC) for Montreal
ground snow load Ss = 2.50 kPa
rain load Sr = 0.40 kPa
Roof snow load coefficients are
Cb = 0.80
Cw = 0.75
Cs = (60 -18.4)/53 = 0.78
Ca = 1.00
Therefore, roof live load L.
=Ss(Cb Cw Cs Ca) + Sr
= 2(5 X 0.8 x 0.75 x 0.78 X 1.0)
+ 0.4 = 1.57 kPa
The 1.57 kPa roof live load governs since it is,greater than
the 1.0 kPa minimum permitted by the NBCC.
The unfactored total roof load D + L is 0.20 + 1.57 = 1.77
kPa
Using Table 1 for purlins with rafters 1.2 m (4 ft) a.c., the
purlins should be 38 x 89 mm (2 x 4) on the flat since their
capacity (4.1 kPa) is greater than the required 1.77 kPa.
If using Douglas fir lumber, select rafters from Table 3.
First try 38 x 235 mm; for 1200 mm (4ft) o.c., its capacity is
1.65 kPa (3.3 x 600/1200). This is slightly less than the
required 1.77 kPa, so use the next larger size, 38 x 286
mm (2 x 12). Alternatively, you may use smaller rafters at
a closer spacing.
Since the required rafters are 38 x 235 mm (2 x 10) or
larger, the maximum purlin spacing permitted is 600 mm
(2 ft).
 TABLE 2 UNFACTORED TOTAL ALLOWABLE ROOF LOADS* (kPa) FOR RAFTERS 600 mm (2 ft)
o.c., NO. 2 SPRUCE-PINE-FIR (S-P-F), CASE C

Span L
mm 2400 3000 3600 4200 4800 6000
ft) (8) (10) (12) (14) (16) (20)
38 X 140 (2 X 6) 3.9 2.5 1.7 1.3 - -
38 X 184 (2 X 8) - 3.7 2.6 1.9 1.4 -
38 X 235 (2 X 10) - - 3.8 2.8 2.2 1.4
38 X 286 (2 X 12) _ - - 3.8 2.9 1.9

* Dead load included and assumed to be 0.2 kPa; adequate bearing capacity must be provided by the supporting truss or
rafter hanger.

TABLE 3 UNFACTORED TOTAL ALLOWABLE ROOF LOADS* (kPa) FOR RAFTERS 600
mm (2 ft), NO. 2 DOUGLAS-FIR-LARCH (D.fir-L), CASE C

Span L
mm 2400 3000 3600 4200 4800 6000
(ft) (8) (10) (12) (14) (16) (20)

38 X 140 (2 X 6) 3.3 2.1 1.5 - - -

38 X 184 (2 X 8) - 3.1 2.2 1.6 1.2 -
38 X 235 (2 X 10) - - 3.3 2.4 1.8 1.2
38 X 286 (2 X 12) - - - 3.2 2.5 1.6

• Dead load included and assumed to be 0.2 kPa; adequate bearing capacity must be provided by the supporting truss
or rafter hanger.