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The total length of the shaftwall run.
Measure the full horizontal run of the shaftwall along the floor.
The on-center spacing between shaftwall (CH/CT) studs.
24 in (610 mm) o.c. is typical for shaftwall assemblies, but confirm against your specific system's design listing — some assemblies call for 16 in (405 mm) o.c.
Shaftwall studs needed
18 studs
- Whole bays up the run
- 16
- Closing space at the last stud
- 12 in
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Shaftwall Stud Framework Calculator: 18 studs — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Shaftwall stud count = ceil(wall length ÷ spacing) + 1, the same layout method as standard steel/wood stud framing, typically at 24 in o.c. for shaftwall assemblies
Inputs used
- Wall Length
- 33 ft
- Stud Spacing (o.c.)
- 24 in
Intermediate steps
- Whole bays up the run
- 16
- Closing space at the last stud
- 12 in
What this calculation does not cover
- The "+ 1" is added once per calculation, so the figure describes a single straight run with two framed ends. Split a lift shaft into four 2.5 m faces and each face returns 6 studs, 24 in all, where the same 10 m entered as one length returns 18 — corners are neither given their own studs nor treated as shared between faces.
- Spacing is only ever used as a divisor. Whatever centre is entered — and the field will not take anything tighter than 16 in or wider than 24 in — is divided into the length and never tested against anything else, because shaft height, the pressure a moving car or a stair pressurisation fan puts on the wall, and the depth and gauge of the C-H section are not asked for. The number therefore does not tighten as the shaft gets taller; the spacing has to arrive already decided by the assembly's design listing.
- Wall height is nowhere in the inputs, so what comes back is a piece count rather than a length of steel to order, with every stud assumed to run from floor track to head track in one piece. Nothing adds the splice, the second length or the head-of-wall detail a storey deeper than the stock stud needs, and no spare is carried for a mis-cut, a damaged web or a section bent while it is being slid into place.
- Openings are counted as though they were not there. The run studs that a lift door or a duct penetration displaces are still included in the total, and the jamb, head and sill pieces that frame the opening are not, so the result is a straight-run layout and not a framing schedule.
- The closing space above is the whole remainder, pushed into the final bay rather than eased across the run, so it is narrower than the module and it is exactly where a friction-fit liner panel and the finish board both have to be ripped. The stud count does not change with it. What the page still cannot say is which end of the run takes that bay, and against a lift door or a duct penetration that is not a free choice.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-09-05 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.1
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- Shaftwall stud count = ceil(wall length ÷ spacing) + 1, the same layout method as standard steel/wood stud framing, typically at 24 in o.c. for shaftwall assemblies
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