Exterior concrete wall panels are becoming one of the main building envelope wall for prefabricated steel frame structures as well as ordinary steel frame buildings, and the effect of exterior concrete wall panels on the natural period of steel frames cannot be ignored. The calculation method for the fundamental natural period of steel frame buildings in current design codes are summarized, and the feasibility of these formulas for steel frames with exterior concrete wall panels is evaluated by comparing the empirical results with the test data of a full-scale steel frame structure with autoclaved lightweight concrete(ALC) panels and the field measured data of a steel frame school building with precast concrete wall panels. The results show that empirical formulas considering the effect of wall materials can predict the natural period in a reasonable precision. Based on the field measured natural periods of the steel frames with exterior concrete wall panels, the empirical formula for estimating the fundamental natural period of the steel frame structures with exterior concrete wall panels is put forward. The structural height is adopted as independent variable in the empirical formula, and the fundamental natural period is a power function of the structural height. The results obtained from the empirical formula have little discreteness and agree well with the field measured data. The empirical formula may provide a reference to engineering designers.