(1) Except as permitted in Sentence (2), steel columns shall be fitted with not less than 100 mm by 100 mm by 6.35 mm thick steel plates at each end, and where the column supports a wooden beam, the top plate shall extend across the full width of the beam.
(2) The top plate required in Sentence (1) need not be provided where a column supports a steel beam and provision is made for the attachment of the column to the beam.