•Snow loads may cause catastrophic damages at prefabricated industrial buildings.•Brittle damages may occur at the thinned ends of the purlin.•Different prefabricated RC purlin tests have been conducted.•The proposed Z type reinforcement enhanced shear capacity of the purlin.•The results were compared with TS-9967 standards and field tests.•The numerical analysis was performed using ABAQUS to determine optimum Z type reinforcement. In prefabricated industrial buildings, damages and collapses may occur under snow loads. If the necessary precautions are not taken, the damage can spread to the whole structure which leads to total collapse. Therefore, it is very crucial for manufacturers to comprehend the nature of the damage and to take necessary precautions to prevent this damage. In this present study, the damages occurred at dapped-end region of prefabricated purlins due to snow load accumulated at the roof and the reasons for these damages were investigated in detail. Pursuant to this goal, comprehensive experimental and numerical studies have been undertaken. 10 specimens with 5 different configurations were tested under four point loading. A novel reinforcement detail and the usage of practical methods used by the manufacturers are selected as main parameters. In all purlins, damages occurred at the dapped-end in shear formation. The experimentally obtained results were compared with field tests and TS9967 design code. It was observed that the specimen with “Z” type of the proposed novel reinforcement exhibited approximately 30% higher load capacity than that of other specimens. Moreover, the numerical analyses were performed in order to determine optimum “Z” type reinforcement for dapped-end purlin beams using finite element methods.