Mezzanines

One hour fire rating will need to be required to the underside of your mezzanine floor under building regulations ONLY if your mezzanine floor meets any of the following criteria: 1. The size of the mezzanine floor is in excess of 400m² 2. The size of the mezzanine floor exceeds 50% of the room it is to be installed in. 3. The number of people working on the mezzanine floor exceeds 3 at any one time. 4. The mezzanine floor is used for purposes other than storage, automated storage and maintenance. Fire cladding a floor to one hour is usually done by fitting a suspended ceiling to the underside of the mezzanine with column cases on the upright posts and a fascia to all open edges. Suspended Ceiling - This can be with an exposed metal grid with drop-in ceiling tiles or with a concealed grid with two layers of plasterboard secured into it giving a smooth ceiling. Please note that only a few ceiling tiles have been specifically tested to be one-hour rated for a mezzanine floor. Any lights fitted within the ceiling void would also have to be rated to one hour. Fascia- This is fitted around all exposed edges of the mezzanine and is constructed of metal studs supporting two layers of plasterboard Column cases - These are manufactured to the right size and length of the column from 12mm Promalit or equivalent with a metal outer layer. They come in a galvanised or white finish as standard. Alternatively, columns can be fireclay by building a stud frame around the column and fixing two layers of plasterboard around them. A protected route -will be required for all floors apart from a storage floor (although storage floors of a certain size may also need a protected route). This is a one-hour partition around a staircase at the ground and first-floor level together with 1/2 hour rated (FD30) doors above and below