Enclosed Beam Finish

Hi, I'm hoping this hasn't been answered a million times before - my searches have been coming up surprisingly blank!

I'm building a 2 storey granny flat in Sydney and I've got a 5m structural steel beam holding up the first floor that will be enclosed in the ceiling space, from checking in the Library here there seems to be no requirement to paint or gal it (it's enclosed and I'm away from the sea/heavy industries) and the engineer hasn't specified anything.

But I still have a nagging worry with a raw beam, even enclosed the timber joists and framing will presumably sweat around it, so I'm sure a certain amount of rusting will be inevitable, but I know a bit of surface rust does form a protective barrier....

So am I likely to have any issues with this beam if it's left raw in this case - what do other people normally specify for projects like this?

Thanks!


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