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Building components

Openings & Frame Elements

The frames, heads, jambs, sills, thresholds and closers that form and finish an opening through a wall.

9 entries in this category.

Overview

About this category

An opening is a deliberate interruption in a wall, and the elements around it exist to make that interruption behave. The head carries what is above, the jambs form the sides, the sill or threshold sheds water at the bottom, and a closer deals with what the interruption exposes.

These entries explain the position each element occupies. They do not describe how an opening should be formed, sealed, insulated or weathered in any particular wall — those depend on the whole build-up and on qualified design.

Boundaries

What this category covers, and what it does not

  • Covers the elements that form, frame and finish an opening through a wall or roof plane.
  • Does not cover windows, doors or glazing units as products — insulated glass units and glazing types are published material entries.
  • Does not cover the window-opening interface as an assembly, which is a building system.
  • States no dimension, tolerance, seal specification, fixing schedule or thermal performance value.

Browse

Forms and roles in this category

Descriptive labels for what is here. They are a way of reading the list, not a filter and not a ranking.

Forms:Board or sheetConnector or supportProfile or trim
Roles:AttachmentDrainageFinishInsulationSeparationStructureSupportTerminationWeather control

Entries

Openings & Frames components

Every entry in this category. Each explains what the element is, what it depends on, and how it relates to materials, systems and junctions.

Profile or trimCavity Closer →A component closing the cavity at an opening's edge without creating a path for water or heat between the leaves.Profile or trimDoor Frame →The fixed surround in an opening that carries a door, holds it in alignment and takes the loads it applies.Profile or trimDoor Threshold →The base of a door opening, where weathering, drainage, thermal continuity, level access and wear all have to be resolved at once.Connector or supportFrame Packer →A small piece placed between a frame and an opening to position it and to transfer load at defined points.Profile or trimOpening Head →The top of an opening, where the wall above must be supported and where water shed down the wall must be stopped from entering.Profile or trimOpening Jamb →The vertical side of an opening, where the wall's layers are interrupted and must be closed and continued.Board or sheetOpening Reveal →The visible surface returning from the wall face into an opening, and the place where thermal problems in the surrounding construction first appear.Profile or trimWindow Frame →The fixed surround that holds glazing in an opening and transfers wind loads from it into the wall.Profile or trimWindow Sill →The element at the bottom of an opening that collects water running down the glazing and directs it clear of the wall below.

Related reference libraries

Components are what materials become and what systems are made of. The three libraries answer different questions and are kept deliberately separate.

Materials Library →Building Systems →