Steel Buildings in Europe

Part 2: Concept Design 2 - 4 Data communications are norm ally placed un der a rais ed access floor to facilitate access by th e user and futu re m odifications. O ther services are generally supported under the floor, above a ceiling. The services can becom e highly congested and an integrated solu tion, such as that shown in Figure 1.3 can be advantageous in m inimising the overall depth required to accommodate both structure and services. Figure 1.3 Services integrated with a cellular floor beam 1.2.3 Floor loading Floor loadings are presented in nati onal Regulations or in EN 1991-1-1, and minimum values can b e increased by c lient requirem ents. Floor loading has three basic components:  Imposed loading, including partitions  Ceiling and services, and a raised floor  Self weight of the structure. Imposed loading is dependant on the use of the building and design loads range from 2,0 to 7,5 kN/m 2 , as illustrated in Table 1.1, which has been extracted from Table 6.2 of EN 1991-1-1. Imposed loads on floors shoul d be taken from EN 1991-1-1 Tables 6.1 and 6.2. §6.3.1.2( 8) provides an allowance for movable partitions ranging between 0,5 kN/m 2 and 1,2 kN/m 2 . A further 0,7 kN/m 2 is generally allowed for ceiling, services and a raised floor. For perimeter beams, it is necess ary to includ e the load ing from façade walls and internal finishes w hich can range f rom 3 to 5 kN/m f or ligh tweight cladding to 8 to 10 kN/m for brickwork and 10 to 15 kN/m for precast concrete panels. The self weight of a typical co mposite floor is 2,8 to 3,5 kN/m 2 , which is only about 50 % of that of a 200 mm deep rein forced concrete flat slab. The self weight of a precast hollow core concrete slab and concrete topping is ty pically 3,5 to 6,5 kNm 2 for a similar span.