Mezzanine Floor Safety & Building Regulations

A mezzanine floor is a structure in its own right, with different safety, inspection and approval requirements from racking. This guide covers design and loading, approvals, fire safety, access and guarding, inspections, and what to do before changing a mezzanine.

Structural Design and Loading

A mezzanine must be designed for its intended use. The design should cover:

• The intended use, such as storage, picking or offices
• Distributed floor loads and concentrated loads, such as racking or shelving on the deck
• Whether the floor slab and foundations can carry the column loads
• Decking, connections and bracing suited to those loads

The design loads should be shown on load notices, so everyone using the floor knows its limits.

Building Regulations and Approvals

Mezzanine floors need Building Regulations approval, and some projects also need planning permission or landlord consent. Identify the requirements at the outset, obtain the necessary approvals before work starts, and keep the completion documentation at the end.

Fire Safety

Adding a mezzanine changes the building, so fire safety must be reviewed as part of the design. That includes escape routes and travel distances from the upper level, any fire protection the structure needs, and the effect on existing fire precautions such as detection, emergency lighting and sprinklers.

Access, Guarding and Openings

People working on a mezzanine need safe access and protection from falls:

• Stairs suitable for the use
• Guarding along open edges, with handrails
• Loading gates at loading points, so people aren't exposed to an open edge when goods are delivered to the deck
• Protection around any openings in the floor

These are covered by Building Regulations and should be designed in from the start.

Inspections

SEMA Technical Bulletin 13 recommends this inspection regime for industrial and commercial platform floors that are not accessible to the public:

These are guidance recommendations within that bulletin's scope, not statutory deadlines for every mezzanine. A structural appraisal is a separate task from an ordinary racking inspection.

Inspections should look at the decking, structural connections, bracing, columns and baseplates, guarding and gates, and stairs.

Changes, Relocation and Change of Use

Have the design reviewed before altering a mezzanine, moving it or changing how it's used. A change of use can change the loads, the fire safety requirements and the approvals needed, and the original load rating shouldn't be assumed to apply to a new arrangement.

Records to Keep

• Design calculations and drawings
• Building Regulations approval and completion documents
• Load notices
• Inspection reports, condition surveys and structural appraisals
• Damage reports, restrictions and repairs
• Records of any alterations