Steel tension members are commonly used in bracing members, chords and web members of trusses, in which not all the elements of the cross section are connected to the gusset plates. Hence in such connections the unconnected elements suffer a 'shear lag' compared to the connected legs. In the case of channel sections the shear lag phenomenon is dependant on the orientation of the fasteners in addition to pitch, eccentricity and connection length. The objectives of this paper is to carry out numerical and pilot experimental investigations on the channel tension members and critically examine the tensions member design provisions of the Indian steel design code IS-800 (Draft) and other international codes.