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Cross-market term

Padstone and bearing plate

A block of concrete, stone or steel placed under the end of a beam to spread its reaction over enough masonry that the masonry is not crushed. It does nothing for the beam; it protects what the beam sits on.
  • 4Markets
  • NoSame thing everywhere
  • 3Calculators

What it is called, by market

One concept, four markets. Where a name means something else locally, the card says so rather than leaving you to find out on site.

  • United Kingdom

    Close, not identical

    padstone

    also pad stone, bearing pad, spreader, template

    Normally a precast concrete block of a size the structural engineer states, and its dimensions are a calculation rather than a standard item — a beam schedule gives the padstone with the beam.

  • Australia

    Close, not identical

    padstone

    also bearing pad, spreader plate, engaged pier

    As the UK, with an engaged pier — a thickening of the wall under the bearing — used as an alternative where the load is high.

  • United Statesyours

    Same word, different thing

    bearing plate

    also beam pocket, bond beam, steel bearing plate, column cap

    There is no single standard word. The equivalent is a steel bearing plate, a filled and reinforced bond beam under the bearing, or a formed beam pocket — and a BASEPLATE is a different component at the BOTTOM of a column.

  • Canada

    Same word, different thing

    bearing plate

    also beam seat, bond beam, lintel bearing

    As the United States, with beam seat used where British practice would say bearing.

The governing standard, by market

  • United Kingdom

    BS EN 1996-1-1 / PD 6697

    Design of masonry including concentrated loads, bearing areas and the local compressive stress under a beam end.

  • United States

    TMS 402 Chapter 5 / AISC 360

    Concentrated loads on masonry and the distribution area assumed, and bearing plate design for steel members.

Calculators for this

Each works in either measurement system, and the terminology on the page follows whichever market you have selected.

Masonry Lintel Bearing Length Checker →Footing Soil Bearing Pressure Checker →Steel Column Baseplate Concrete Bearing Pressure Calculator →

Frequently asked questions

Why does a beam need a padstone when the wall is already strong?
Because the wall's strength is quoted over an area and the beam delivers its whole reaction to a very small one. A masonry wall might safely carry several newtons per square millimetre spread out, and a steel beam bearing 150 mm onto a 100 mm wide wall is applying its entire end reaction through 15,000 square millimetres — which for a beam carrying a floor and a roof can put the local stress far past what the masonry takes. The masonry then crushes locally, the beam end drops, and everything it carries drops with it. The padstone is a block stiff enough to spread that reaction over a larger footprint of wall, and its SIZE is the answer to that arithmetic. It is not a packing piece and it is not optional because the wall looks solid.
What decides how big it has to be?
The beam's end reaction divided by what the masonry beneath can take, with the spread through the padstone allowed for. Three things move it. The LOAD — a beam removing a wall in a two-storey house has a far larger reaction than one over a garage door. The MASONRY — a dense concrete block or engineering brick takes several times the stress a lightweight aerated block does, so the same beam on a different wall needs a different padstone or a different block locally. And the BEARING LENGTH, because the padstone's own length is part of the spread. That is why a padstone appears on a structural engineer's calculation with a size, a concrete grade and sometimes reinforcement, and why substituting a convenient block from the merchant is a change to the design rather than to the shopping list.
Can one be added after the beam is in?
Sometimes, and it is a great deal more work than putting it in first, which is why the omission is expensive rather than merely awkward. The bearing has to be relieved — the beam temporarily supported by props or needles taking the load past the bearing point — and then the masonry under the end cut out and the padstone built in and allowed to gain strength before the load is returned to it. That is a propping operation with its own design, in a building that is by definition already relying on the beam. It is also the reason a beam installed without its specified padstone is a genuine finding rather than a paperwork one: the wall beneath may already be crushing, and the settlement it causes will have redistributed load elsewhere before anybody notices.