Fabric—A woven cloth of organic orinorganic filaments, threads, or yarns.

Fabric reinforcement—A fabric, scrim, etc., used to add structural strength to a two or more ply polymeric sheet. Such sheeting is referred to as "supported".

Fabrication—(1) The manufacturing process performed in a plant to convert raw material into finished metal building components. The main operations are coldforming, cutting, punching, welding, cleaning, and painting; (2) The creation of large panels of rubber from smaller calendar width sheets as in EPDM.

Factory square—10m2 (108 ft2). The amount of roofing material supplied to cover 100 sq. ft. of roof area.

Fallback—A reduction in bitumen softening point, sometimes caused by refluxing or overheating in a relatively closed container. (See also Softening point drift).

Fascia—A decorative trim or panel projecting from the face of a wall, serving as a weather closure at gable and end wall.

Felt—A flexible sheet manufactured by the interlocking of fibers through a combination of mechanical work, moisture, and heat, without spinning, weaving, or knitting. Roofing felts are manufactured from vegetable fibers (organic felts), asbestos fibers (asbestos felts), glass fibers (glass fiber felts) or polyester fibers (synthetic fiber mats).

Felt mill ream—The mass in pounds of 480 ft2 of dry, unsatur-ated felt, also termed "point weight."

Fiber glass insulation—Blanket insulation, composed of glass fibers bound together with a thermoset binder, faced or unfaced, used over or under purlins to insulate roofs and walls, semirigid boards, usually with a facer.

Field—The "job site," "building site," or general market area.

Field of view—The area which may be viewed on a stationary object without motion of the data acquisition system.

Fill—As used in textile technology refers to the threads or yarns in a fabric running at right angles to the warp. Also called filler threads.

Filler strip—See Closure strip.

Film—Sheeting having nominal thickness not greater than 10 mils.

Film badge—A device, which must be carried by users of nuclear measuring instruments to measure their total radiation exposure.

Fin—A sharp raised edge capable of damaging a roof membrane.

Fine mineral surfacing—Water insoluble inorganic material, more than 50% of which passes the 500 micrometer (No. 35) sieve, used on the surface of roofing.

Finial—Gable closure at ridge.

Fishmouth—(1) A half cylindrical or half conical opening formed by an edge wrinkle or failure to embed a roofing felt; (2) In shingles, a half conical opening formed at a cut edge.

Fixed base—A column base that is designed to resist rotation as well as horizontal or vertical movement.

Flange—The projecting edge of a structural member.

Flange brace—A bracing member used to provide lateral support to the flange of a beam, girder, or column.

Flashing—The system used to seal membrane edges at walls, expansion joints, drains, gravel stops, and other places where the membrane is interrupted or terminated. Base flashing covers the edges of the membrane. Cap or counterflashing shields the upper edges of the base flashing.

Flashing cement—A trowelable mixture of cutback bitumen and mineral stabilizers including asbestos or other inorganic fibers.

Flash point—Temperature at which a test flame ignites vapor above a liquid surface.

Flat asphalt—A roofing asphalt conforming to the requirements of Specification D 312, Type II.

Fleece—Term used to describe mats or felts of usually nonwo ven fibers.

Flood coat—The top layer of bitumen used to hold the aggregate on an aggregate surfaced, roofing membrane.

Fluid applied elastomer—An elastomeric material, fluid at ambient temperature, that dries or cures after application to form a continuous membrane. Such systems normally do not incorporate reinforcement.

Fluorocarbon films—Substituted ethylene polymers, featuring outstanding formability, heat resistance, color retention, and resistance to solvents and chalking.

Footing—A pad or mat, usually of concrete, located under a column or wall, or other structural member, that is used to distribute the loads from that member into the supporting soil.

Force—The action of one body on another body which changes or tends to change its state of rest or motion. A force may be expressed in pounds (Newtons), kips, or other similar units and may act in any one of the following ways:

1. Compression force: A force acting on a body tending to compress the body. (Pushing action)
2. Shear force: A force acting on a body which tends to slide
   one portion of the body against the other portion of the body. (Sliding action)
3. Tension force: A force acting on a body tending to elongate
   the body. (Pulling action)
4. Torsion force: A force acting on a body which tends to twist
   the body.

Foundation—The substructure which supports a building or other structure.

Framed opening—Frame work (headers and jambs) and flashing which surround an opening in the wall or roof of a building; usually for field installed accessories such as overhead doors or powered roof exhausters.

Framing—The primary and secondary structural members (columns, rafters, girts, purlins, brace rods, etc.) which go together to make up the skeleton of a structure to which the covering can be applied.

Framing drawings—Plans and erection instructions which identify all individual parts in sufficient detail to permit the proper erection and installation of all parts of the metal building system furnished by the seller (also known as Erection Drawings).

"Free carbon" in tars—The hydrocarbon fraction that is precipitated from a tar by dilution with carbon disulfide.

Frequency—The number of vibratory cycles per unit of time, equals the speed of light divided by the wave length (for electromagnetic radiation.

Friability—The tendency of a material or product to crumble or break into small pieces easily.