LLONSSON LIMITED T +44(0)1883 622068

49 Court Farm Road, F +44(0)1883 623280

Warlingham, Surrey E sales@llonsson.co.uk
CR6 9BL United Kingdom W www.llonsson.co.uk

VAT Registration No: 515 1657 59

Mezzanine floors: Bracing

To brace or not to brace – is that the question?

When is bracing of mezzanine floors necessary?

It is always necessary to design mezzanine floors to

accommodate a degree of dynamic and side loading, and
bracing will always be required to resist any sideways
loading.

Mezzanine floors are designed to be freestanding – that is

they will remain in place even if the building in which they are
located were to be removed. This allows them to be added or
removed without needing to apply load to the building
structure or involve a structural engineer in checking wall
loadings.

Types of bracing

Bracing can take a number of forms, a “panel or cross

brace”, “knee brace” or “floor brace” and can be fabricated
from flat, angle or tubular material.

The panel or cross brace comprises a pair of straps forming a cross, which are bolted to lugs at the top and
bottom of an adjacent pair of columns. Panel bracing is very effective, but has the disadvantage of obstructing
access between the columns where the brace is located.

Knee braces usually link a lug at the top of a column with a lug on a beam at an angle of 45 degrees. They are
not as effective as panel braces, and locally reduce clear headroom and project below fire protection.

Floor braces are like an inverted knee brace, but usually are fixed to a lug at the top of a column, and fixed to
the concrete floor slab at the bottom. Floor braces are inclined steeply from floor to column to minimise
obstruction of the space between columns.

When no obstructions between the mezzanine floors columns are acceptable, bracing can be achieved by using
heavier sections and designing structural bolted connections that can accommodate sideways loading. This is
usually a more costly solution.

Removal of bracing

The removal of a mezzanine floors braces following installation in order to facilitate access will at the very least
apply sideways loads to the building fabric which could result in damage or invalidate insurances, and in the
worst case where the mezzanine floor is unrestrained, could lead to collapse of the mezzanine floor and
crushing of people below.
Prepared by: Llonsson Ltd © Llonsson Ltd 2009 1

REGISTERED OFFICE: ROBERTSFIELD, HOLLAND ROAD, OXTED, SURREY, RH8 9BQ REGISTERED NO: 2389444
LLONSSON LIMITED T +44(0)1883 622068
49 Court Farm Road, F +44(0)1883 623280
Warlingham, Surrey E sales@llonsson.co.uk
CR6 9BL United Kingdom W www.llonsson.co.uk

VAT Registration No: 515 1657 59

Mezzanine floor advice and support

For further advice regarding the design of your mezzanine floors, call Llonsson Ltd on 01883 622068

Keywords

Mezzanine floors, mezzanine flooring, bracing, knee brace, panel brace, cross brace, floor brace, structural
connection

Prepared by: Llonsson Ltd © Llonsson Ltd 2009 2

REGISTERED OFFICE: ROBERTSFIELD, HOLLAND ROAD, OXTED, SURREY, RH8 9BQ REGISTERED NO: 2389444