Patent ID: 8381484

Claim:
A building system method, comprising: prefabricating frame modules of rectangular structural steel tubing having a top tube, two upright side tubes and a bottom tube welded together at module corners off site, and trucking said modules to a building site; supporting vertical loads with straight vertical support members in some of said frame modules having straight vertical support members only, free of diagonal brace members, allowing architectural freedom in the placement of window and door openings unrestricted by diagonal braces, and by larger dimension vertical support members interposed between some horizontally adjacent sets of vertically stacked frame modules; resisting lateral forces from wind and seismic events through diagonal brace members that are incorporated in other frame modules; attaching all of said frame modules together, edge-to-edge to form a peripheral building frame wall and at least one interior frame wall; attaching rim tracks to said wall frames spaced below the top of said wall frame and having upper and lower flanges projecting outward of said wall frames; supporting floor joists at ends thereof in said rim tracks for supporting floor decking; and pouring concrete onto said floor decking and leveling the top of said concrete flush with top surfaces of said frame top tubes.