FAQs
YOUR QUESTIONS - ANSWERED.
Q. Do we need planning permission for a mezzanine floor?
A. In most instances - no. You don’t need planning permission for a fully demountable structure. If the installed mezzanine is attached into the main building or if the mezzanine is to be on a retail park and greater than 200m2 you will need to obtain planning permission. You will however require building regulation approval for your floor.
Q. Will I need to fire clad the structure?
A. If the floor is to be used as an office, or it takes up more than 50% of the building or it is in excess of 20m in either direction the floor will need to be fireclad.
Q. What is the difference between a Part M and Part K on staircases?
A. A Part K staircase is for storage floors, normally 900mm wide and either a straight flight or with a dogleg landing.
A Part M staircase is a minimum of 1200mm wide with enclosed treads and a mid landing after 12 risers. Part M staircases are needed for office, production or retail floors.
Q. Will Powerdeck take responsibility obtaining Building Regulations?
A. Yes. Powerdeck make no charge for providing the calculations and drawings to obtain building regulations. Your only cost will be the application fee. Powerdeck use an approved inspector and liaise with them to ensure your floor conforms to all the regulations in force.
Q. What is a protected route?
A. A protected route is required off an office or production floor. It is constructed with a one hour partition and 30 minutes rated doors and goes from the top of the staircase to a place a safety normally an external door
Q. Can my ground floor be free of columns?
A. Yes, Powerdeck can accommodate any span between columns that you may require. If you need to span machinery or want to keep a showroom free, we can fabricate up to 14m in length.
Q. How long does it take to install a mezzanine floor?
A. Based on a clear and level site, we would expect our installation teams to install approximately 60.0 sq metres per working day.
Q. How much disruption to my business will there be?
The area where the mezzanine floor is to be situated would need to be cordoned off whilst installation is taking place. There will also be some degree of noise during erection. Our fitters can work out of hours and at weekend to lessen the impact if required.
Q. What other costs are there to my floor?
A. We will need access and lifting equipment to install the floor. All our hire equipment is site specific but our estimators will be able to give you an estimate of costs at quotation stage. You would also need to light the underside of the floor and install smoke detector points below the mezzanine floor. Fire cladding may be requirement (see point 2)
