The purpose of this work was to assess the influence of several parameters on the fire resistance of steel and composite steel-concrete columns in buildings. The contact with brick walls, stiffness of the surrounding structure, load level, and slenderness of the columns, were the target of the study. Experimental tests were performed on steel H columns embedded on walls, bare steel H columns and composite steel-concrete partially encased H columns with restrained thermal elongation. Results of the experimental tests were compared with numerical studies, with the purpose of providing valuable...