Mezzanine Floor

Mezzanine Flooring

We list below the top ten answers to questions asked by our customers about Mezzanine Flooring

• Planning Permission – A Mezzanine Floor does not require planning permission.
• Building Regulations – Mezzanine Flooring must comply with building regulations.
• Fire Regulations – Apply and approval must be sought. Whereas the mezzanine floor may be Type Approved, these regulations are application specific.
• Foundations - Are not visible and are not your floor slab. Foundations will be beneath this, generally at the foot of the main load bearing structures.
• Floor Weight – Your mezzanine floor will apply a load to your slab which must be capable of taking it.
• Maximum Floor Loads – The total weight of the mezzanine floor plus 500 kgs. per sq.m. will be what is transmitted on to your slab. It is not a simple division calculation and can only be provided from qualified engineering sources – it is not necessarily difficult but it has to be correct as it is part of the building regulations submission.
• Co-Axial Loadings – Are the reason why maximum floor loadings are complicated to calculate. Effectively the columns supporting the mezzanine floor will receive multiple loadings which are not necessarily evenly distributed. These can apply between 6 and 8 tonnes of force on to your floor slab, more for weights greater than 500 kgs. per sq.m . There are a number of ways of dealing with it. Specially prepared foundations are the means of last resort. The local authority requires proof that your floor slab can take the load. This is a specialist area we can help you with if necessary.
• Access - Have a plan to safely get goods and people on and off the floor. This includes injured people. Vertical ladders are a means of last resort, especially if you are being handled by a fireman with breathing apparatus in emergency conditions. For ordinary operations, conveyors, fork lift trucks and electric stackers make good low cost alternatives to lifts. However if your platform is to be used for office or sales facilities open to the public, a lift or ramp may be unavoidable.
• Second Hand – our advice is avoid used mezzanine flooring at all costs.
• Using Second Hand Mezzanine Flooring – Our recommendation is that reusing an existing mezzanine floor is acceptable providing the materials are the original ones, they are carefully dismantled and re-erected to the original design drawings on suitable, levelled foundations. Unless you know the history of the mezzanine floor or have taken it out yourself, not only are you buying an uninsurable death trap, you will probably pay more for it too. I am sure I will get dozens of emails about this statement, the fact is that in over 20 years I have yet to see one correctly installed or that meets building regulations or insurance requirements and most of the hapless victims have no idea that these regulations apply and will be exposed and vulnerable in the event of an incident. See our free pdf on used equipment – The Snake Pit

How to Save Money and Acquire More Space

A Mezzanine Floor is up to 80% less than the cost of a new building and providing you have approximately 5m of headroom, the Mezzanine Floor is a very low cost expansion option.

In our Mezzanine Floor picture gallery we show you how to turn your building into a multi-functional, high output operation. We also design and build all the compatible mezzanine floor equipment you need to go with your floor and all the feed and handling systems, making us the perfect engineering partner to safely and successfully conclude your mezzanine floor installation.

We give below 3 downloads which are useful guides to mezzanine floor concepts and reflect 15 years of structural surveys and concluding successful mezzanine floor installations.

Free Mezzanine Floor information downloads

How to get more out of your Mezzanine Floor

10 Mezzanine Floor Breakers

Used Equipment – The Snake Pit

Please give us a call today to discuss your mezzanine floor requirements. We are happy to come to site, measure up for your floor, produce 3D drawings so that you can see exactly how your mezzanine floor will look once it is installed and a full written quotation. You may also like to take a look at some further information on mezzanine flooring on our sister website, www.engineeredsolutions.info and see some of our other recent mezzanine floor installations.

Hover over the pictures to reveal the description, click to view.