Mezzanine Fire Protection
Fire rated ceilings, column casings and fascia - 60-minute mezzanine floor fire protection designed to Building Regulations and installed across the South West.
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Mezzanine floor fire protection, done properly
When the space under a mezzanine is occupied - offices, packing benches, workstations, retail - Building Regulations require the structure to resist fire long enough for everyone to get out. In practice that means mezzanine floor fire protection: a fire rated ceiling beneath the deck, casings around the columns, and fascia closing the edges.
We design and install complete fire protection packages for new and existing mezzanines across the South West - usually as part of the floor installation, but just as often retrofitted to floors whose use has changed since they went in.
It's one of the most common compliance gaps we find at survey: a storage floor that quietly became a production or office floor, with people now working beneath unprotected steel. The fix is straightforward, and far cheaper than discovering the gap during a fire risk assessment or insurance review.
What a 60-minute system looks like
The standard requirement for occupied mezzanines is 60 minutes of fire resistance, achieved with three coordinated elements.
Fire rated suspended ceilings
A suspended ceiling of fire-resistant tiles on a protected grid beneath the deck shields the floor structure from heat. It also tidies services and improves lighting and acoustics in the space below - protection that earns its keep daily.
Column casings
Every supporting column is encased in fire-rated board or proprietary casings, maintaining the structure's integrity at the points that matter most. Casings finish cleanly and take knocks better than bare board.
Fascia and bulkheads
Fire-rated fascia closes the exposed floor edges and any changes in level, completing the envelope. Where the mezzanine sits within a larger fit out, we integrate the fire strategy with partitions, escape routes and alarm coverage so the whole scheme signs off as one.
When Building Control will ask for it
Not every mezzanine needs fire protection. A small floor used purely for storage, accessed occasionally by the same trained staff, can often be accepted unprotected. The requirement typically arrives when people work on the floor for sustained periods, when the public can access it, when the mezzanine is large relative to the building or runs to two tiers, or when escape routes pass beneath it. In those cases Building Control will normally look for 60 minutes of fire resistance to the supporting structure.
A typical protection package can include a fire-rated suspended ceiling beneath the deck, column casings and fascia protection to exposed edges, specified as compatible systems for the required fire strategy. We can coordinate the package with a new floor or assess the scope for an existing mezzanine whose use has changed, with the required product and installation information defined for Building Control and the project fire adviser.
Fire Protection FAQs
Broadly, when people regularly occupy the space beneath it or the floor itself - offices, workstations, production, retail. Pure storage floors with only occasional access often don't require it. The trigger is use, which is why floors that change role need reassessing.
60 minutes is the usual requirement for occupied mezzanines under Approved Document B, achieved through the ceiling, column casings and fascia working together. Larger or multi-tier structures can carry additional requirements - we confirm the exact specification as part of design.
Yes, and it's a large part of our fireproofing work. Ceilings, casings and fascia install beneath a live floor with minimal disruption - typically a few days for an average mezzanine - bringing older or re-purposed floors up to current Building Regulations.
A suspended ceiling takes roughly 150-200mm including the grid and services zone. We check clear heights at survey and, where headroom is tight, specify slimmer direct-fix boarding systems instead.
Part of the bigger picture
Fire protection usually arrives alongside these.
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Mezzanine Floor Fire Protection
Useful detail for comparing scope, constraints and the next step for a live project.
Mezzanine Floor Building Regulations
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Mezzanine Floors
Useful detail for comparing scope, constraints and the next step for a live project.