Sponsored: Lindapter Distributor
Fixing to warehouse steel without drilling or welding: clamps, Hollo-Bolts and floor fixings
A clamp that grips a beam flange, a bolt that goes into hollow section from one side, and a floor fixing tightened from above can each replace a drill or a welder on warehouse steel. Here is where each one fits, what flange slope each clamp suits, and what to settle before anything new goes on a beam.
A distribution centre never stops changing. A new sprinkler main, a cable tray for a sorter, a mezzanine for returns, a handrail on a pick platform: each one needs fixing to steel that is already up, usually above stock and under a working roof.
Welding or drilling on site brings hot works with it. That means a permit, a fire watch, a cleared area and sometimes a bay out of action while it happens. Clamped connections are the other route, and this article walks through what one maker's range is built to do, quoting its Australian distributor's own pages.
The range is Lindapter, and the distributor is CBW Engineering, which describes itself as an exclusive Australian distributor for Lindapter products. The principle on its home page is simple: a connection is made by clamping two steel sections together, as a faster alternative to on-site drilling or welding, and it can be permanent or temporary.
Four jobs in a warehouse where a clamp can stand in for the welder
Illustrative section through a portal-frame warehouse, not to scale
- 1Services hung from roof steelPipe, sprinkler, HVAC, cable and ceiling supports: support fixings
- 2New beams across existing beamsSecondary steelwork, beam to beam: steelwork clamps
- 3Mezzanine floor plate and gratingFixed from above: floor fixings
- 4Hollow-section posts and handrailsReachable from one side: Hollo-Bolt
- ?Racking, conveyors, solarNot on the distributor's pages: ask the equipment supplier
Products and uses: Lindapter Distributor product pages, checked 10 Nov 2026. Drawing: Logistics Industry News.
A clamp grips the flange, so the beam keeps every hole it had
The distributor's steelwork page describes these fixings as purpose-made malleable iron hook-bolt adapters that grip the flange of most standard steel sections. They go together with spanners, so the page says there is no need to drill or weld on site.
The same page says they are primarily for secondary steelwork, and that they let beam to beam connections be made quickly on site. In a warehouse, that is the new trimmer under a mezzanine, the beam that carries a hoist rail or the frame that picks up a new platform.
Steelwork clamp: the bolt sits beside the flanges, not through them
Hollo-Bolt: the sleeve opens inside the section
Schematic, not to scale. Drawn from the descriptions on the Lindapter Distributor Steelwork Fixings and Hollo-Bolts pages, checked 10 Nov 2026.
Several clamp types are listed, and they differ in what they hook onto. Type CF hooks over the flanges of I-beams, angles and channels. Type F9 joins parallel running steelwork with flanges of the same width, and the page says it is not suitable for tapered flanges. Type AAF, which the distributor calls Lindapter's flagship, is a two-part design that self-adjusts to a range of flange thicknesses.
Flange slope decides which clamp fits: 8°, 10° or 15°
Steel beams do not all have flat flanges. Some flanges taper, and the distributor's pages give each clamp type the slope it suits. Type A and Type B are listed for flanges up to 8°. Type AF, described as a high friction clamp with high load capacities, is listed for flanges up to 10°. On the distributor's rail fixings page, Type LR is a self-adjusting clamp for slopes of up to 15°.
Your beam's section drawing, or your engineer, will tell you whether a flange is parallel or tapered and by how much. Set that slope below and the chart shows which types the pages list for it.
Flange slope the distributor's pages list for each clamp type
Source: Lindapter Distributor, Steelwork Fixings page (Types A, B, AF, F9) and Rail Fixings page (Type LR), checked 10 Nov 2026. Bars drawn to scale. The Type FL beam clamp on the Support Fixings page is listed for parallel or tapered flanges, with no angle given.
Type F9 sits at zero because the page rules out tapered flanges for it. If your slope is steeper than anything listed, that is a conversation for the distributor and your engineer, not a guess.
Hollow sections only need one open side
Mezzanine posts, handrails and stair stringers are often square or rectangular hollow section, and you cannot get a spanner inside a tube. The distributor's Hollo-Bolt page describes it as a patented way of securing to square, rectangular or circular hollow section steel, or to conventional steelwork where access is available from one side only.
The same page says Lindapter cavity fixings are easy to install without specialist skills, equipment or on-site power, and that they remove the need for welding or strapping. Staircases and handrails, secondary connections and modular buildings are all on its list of typical applications.
Two details are worth knowing before you specify one. The larger M16 and M20 sizes carry a High Clamping Force mechanism that, on the distributor's page, produces three times more clamping force than the same size without it. And the bolts come with JS500 or HDG protection as standard, with Sheraplex and stainless steel offered for more aggressive environments. If your site is hard on steel, ask which finish suits it.
Services hang from the beams that are already there
Most retrofit work in a working warehouse is overhead: new sprinkler runs, a duct, a cable tray for a conveyor control panel. The distributor's support fixings page lists solutions for supporting HVAC equipment, pipe work, fire protection and sprinkler systems, suspended ceilings and electrical equipment from structural or secondary beams.
The types on that page split by what they grip:
- Type FL beam clamp suits parallel or tapered flange beams.
- Type F3 flange clamp is a two-part clamp with a large clamping range, and the bolt can be swapped for a drop rod or J-bolt.
- Type Z10 purlin clip suits a large range of purlin sections, the light roof members that carry the sheeting.
- Type HW/HC cup and washers allow up to 10° of swing either side of vertical, for hanging from an angled surface.
For that last one, the page is plain that loads depend on the application and says to contact the distributor.
Mezzanine floor plate and grating go down from above, without a hot work permit
Floors are where the hot works point is made most directly. The distributor's floor fixings page says the range can be used without the need for a hot work permit. Whether a permit is needed on your site is for your safety officer to confirm. It also says installation needs no scaffolding or special equipment, because nobody needs access to the underside of the flooring.
Two products do the work. Grate-Fast fixes open grate flooring to steel sections, by one person working from above, without drilling the steel or welding on site. Floorfast fixes steel floorplate from above, again by one person, using a tee-handled hexagon key. It suits flange thicknesses from 3 mm to 15 mm, and the page says thicker flanges take a simple packing piece.
The page adds that the floor fixings are tested for heat, vibration, service life and load capacity, and sit with minimal protrusion above walkways. On a mezzanine with pallet jacks and foot traffic, that last point is one your safety team will ask about, alongside the mezzanine's rated floor load, which your engineer confirms.
Every fixing here goes in with hand tools
| Fixing | Fixes to | On site, per the distributor's page |
|---|---|---|
| Steelwork clamps | Flanges of most standard steel sections, beam to beam | Spanners; no drilling or welding on site |
| Hollo-Bolt | Square, rectangular or circular hollow section; steel reached from one side | No specialist skills, equipment or on-site power |
| Support fixings | Structural or secondary beams, purlins | Loads depend on the application; ask the distributor |
| Floorfast | Steel floorplate on flanges 3 mm to 15 mm | One person, from above, a tee-handled hexagon key |
| Grate-Fast | Open grate flooring on steel sections | One person, from above, no drilling or welding |
Source: Lindapter Distributor product pages (Steelwork Fixings, Hollo-Bolts, Support Fixings, Floor Fixings), checked 10 Nov 2026.
Published loads are safe working loads, with the factor of safety already in
The distributor's quality and test approvals page says the loads Lindapter publishes are safe working loads, taking into account a guaranteed factor of safety of 5 or 4 in most cases. The same page lists third-party approvals, including Lloyds Register Type Approval, for which products were tensile, friction, shear, vibration and shock tested.
That covers the fixing. It does not cover the beam. A clamp rated for a load tells you nothing about whether an older rafter can carry a new sprinkler main as well as its roof, so the beam check is your engineer's job before the fixing is chosen.
What these pages do not cover: racking, conveyors and solar
The distributor's site has product pages, not warehouse application pages. Nothing on it talks about pallet racking, conveyors or rooftop solar, so this article does not either. Racking in particular has its own supplier and its own rules about what may be attached to it; ask them before anything goes on an upright or beam.
If your project sits in that gap, the distributor says it offers complimentary technical presentations to structural, mechanical and drafting engineers, held at their premises if needed. That puts the question with the people who sign off the design.
Six questions to settle before anything goes on a beam
This article is sponsored by Lindapter Distributor (CBW Engineering). Every product detail is quoted from the distributor's own website, checked 10 November 2026. Logistics Industry News wrote the article and drew the figures. Talk to a qualified engineer before fixing anything to structural steel.