About Qframe

Why Qframe exists

Early decisions about an industrial building, such as how wide, how long, how high and what goes into it, are usually made before anyone has a structural model. The numbers that follow are guesses until an engineer gets involved.

Standard cost-estimate guidance expects a concept-stage estimate to be 20 to 30 percent too low or 30 to 50 percent too high. Source: Alberta Infrastructure, Classes of Construction Cost Estimates (2025, after ASTM E2516) (opens in a new tab)

Qframe puts a structural model at the very start. Configure the building yourself and get a frame, a first sizing and quantities you can actually work with.

Built by structural engineers

Qframe is built by structural engineers with long experience in steel buildings. The rules inside the engine come from that practice, not from a generic 3D tool.

Qframe is for early decisions. It does not replace the engineer's design.

Why a real structural engine matters

A picture of a building can look right and still be impossible to build. When the geometry comes from a structural model, the spans, member sizes and quantities belong together, so the first estimate starts from something real.

That is the difference between configuring a building and drawing one.